


Rebirth of the Dragon

by Darklordi



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Asshai, Azor Ahai, Canon Continuation, Daenerys Deserved Better, Daenerys Targaryen Lives, Dragons, Drama, Essos, F/F, Fantasy, House Targaryen, Long Night, Nissa Nissa - Freeform, Pregnant Daenerys Targaryen, Prophecy, Queen Daenerys, Resurrection, Westeros, Yi Ti
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2020-04-07 17:06:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 102,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19089373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darklordi/pseuds/Darklordi
Summary: In the neighborhood of Volantis, two young servants of the temple of R'hllor discover, at the edge of a river, a huge black dragon, half dead of hunger and exhaustion, and near him, the lifeless body of a young silver haired woman he seems to want to protect at all costs. The High Priestess, Kinvara, is immediately warned, and recognizes the body as Daenerys Targaryen .... Without wasting time, the high priestess of R'hllor will take things in hand .....





	1. Part 1

The events written below take place after season 8 of GOT.

Essos, to Volantis

Another day was ending and already, the dark veil shrouded in a shadowing red dusk that was gradually covering the sky. A light wind had risen, making the grass of the great hills that surrounded the city of Volantis shudder and dance as a group of birds flew north.  
A violent storm had erupted a few days earlier, causing the Volantis river to rumble and dance in a violent and abnormal manner, causing a great deal of damage. Entire neighborhoods had been flooded by the monstrous waves of the raging river and the torrential downpours of rain and the lightnings roaring like a dragon having caused some fires in some buildings. Even the red priests of Volantis had to admit that never in their life had they seen such a storm. For the priests, it was more than just a natural phenomenon. Something had happened.  
At the edge of a small river gliding through the sleeping hills not far from the city, two men were walking side by side, carrying on their backs the stocks of wood they had just picked up. The first was in his twenties, short black hair and green eyes, and the second, of the same age, had a matte skin, bald head and brown eyes. Both wore the characteristic outfits of R'hllor's temple servants, modest dark-red-brown tunics, and the scarlet-flame tattoo beneath their right eye. When they become true red priests, this tattoo of servant would be removed and their clothes would be exchanged for the great cloaks of priests. As they both walked in silence, returning to Volantis to return to the temple after the gathering of the wood, the two servants could contemplate around them the ravages caused by the storm. The river's water had been filled with natural debris swept away by the slow current. A few uprooted tree trunks also floated there, revealing the violence of the storm.  
But as they moved away, one of them stopped walking, his eyes turning to a more hidden corner of the river, near a group of large rocks. Something had caught his attention, which his comrade noticed and stopped too. The servant narrowed his eyes to see better. At the edge of the river, a very particular form, immense, all of black with red reflections, stood lengthened and motionless and did not have the shape of a tree trunk. But what struck the servant was to perceive what appeared to be very slight movements of this giant figure. it moved!  
The two servants looked at each other and more than perplexed, decided to go see what it was. Walking down the hill at a hurried pace, the two men took a few minutes to finally get close to this thing whose black color seemed as dark as the night. The two men froze in astonishment, their eyes wide and voiceless. Black scales, a red crest, huge membranous wings, a feeble but heavy breathing, a massive head .... A dragon! This thing was a dragon, and seemed alive. The huge beast was on the bank, half-emerged in the river, eyes closed and emitting a very weak breath. How had he ended up in this state? Had he been caught in the storm? What was he doing here? He seemed not to have eaten for days.  
The two servants ventured to approach, very cautiously, up to a few meters. The dragon barely opened an eyelid, revealing a reptilian eye of fiery color, but emitting only a short growl without being able to move. He was far too weak to just move his head.  
But another detail immediately attracted the attention of the two servants of the temple. Under one of his wings, the dragon seemed to have covered something, as if to protect it. One of the two servants ventured to come closer, and looked under the wing, while the other, less reassured, kept an eye on the dragon, who did not even react. The servant leaned to look under the wing membrane, then saw another silhouette, much smaller and also lying on the ground without moving. A human form. Seizing the body, the young servant managed to pull it towards him and took it out in the twilight light. His comrade came to him to see better and both could contemplate the body.  
It was a young white woman, about 23 years old, very beautiful, with a thin face. Her long, floppy hair had a silvery color and she was dressed in a black outfit, worn and soaked by the bad weather, adorned with a silver chain representing a dragon. At the level of her chest, traces of dried blood and a notch in the fabric of the dress. She had been stabbed in the heart.  
Seeing this young woman with silver hair, and this great dragon who despite the exhaustion, had apparently tried to protect her lifeless body against the fury of the storm .... Faced with this, the two servants looked at each other once again, both perplexed, but suggesting a certain glimmer of understanding .... Was it possible that this woman is ....? The dark-haired servant stood up immediately and started running towards Volantis.  
_"Stay here and watch over them, I'll come back with reinforcements!" the servant said, while his dark-skinned comrade obeyed, kneeling in turn beside the lifeless body of the silver-haired woman. Delicately, he opened one of the eyelids, to see a green eye emptied of any spark of life. Seeing this stranger touching the young woman, the dragon uttered a deep growl of anger, but again, could barely move his head off the ground.  
_ "Oh, Calm down.... calm down.... I'm not going to do anything to you..." said the servant of R'hllor to appease him. The dragon, in an effort, tried to approach his gaping mouth close to the man, but let himself quickly fall back onto the sand. The man, intimidated by the furious character of the creature, thought, however, to detect something in his gaze fixed on the lifeless body of the woman .... the great dragon let hear soft moans, as of sorrow, and from his eye sank what seemed to be..... a tear ....  
***********  
The black-haired servant ran as fast as he could, having even abandoned his pile of wood on the way. He walked through the streets, squares and alleys of Volantis, under the somewhat circumspect gaze of some passers-by and driving others out of his way. He climbed the steps of the temple of R'hllor at a run, crossing the many corridors and halls that made up the temple, also provoking the curiosity of the other servants who crossed his path. Arrived at last before large closed doors decorated with burning flames, the servant took a few seconds to catch his breath, under the eyes of the two soldiers of the Fiery Hand, the warriors in charge of the protection of the temple, who stood guard in front of these doors.  
_ "I .... I have to talk to Lady Kinvara now!" said the servant eagerly. The two guards said nothing, just glancing at each other. After a very heavy insistence, the servant was finally allowed to enter beyond the doors. On the other side was a vast, silent hall supported by thick marble pillars decorated with undulating flames around them like snakes and lit by two large torches on each side. At the top of the steps was a giant stone altar in the shape of a burning heart around which burners are constantly burning. In front of these braziers, on her knees, a woman with long, black hair, in a red dress, stood on her knees and appeared in full concentration. To her right and left had been placed iron receptacles, containing an incense emitting a strong odor in the room. The servant stopped at the bottom of the steps, kneeling, head down, and getting ready to speak, but the red priestess was ahead of him.  
_ "Athias .... I hope you have a good reason to come and interrupt my prayer to our Lord." Kinvara warns in a dark voice, without turning, her eyes still closed. Around her neck, the precious stone incrusted in her necklace shone with a faint scarlet glow like a tiny dancing red flame inside the stone.  
_"Forgive my intrusion, High Priestess, but it is a capital emergency. I and Jarad found them by the river."  
_"What?" asked Kinvara, opening her eyes and finally turning to the young servant.  
_ "A young woman with silver hair, and a dragon with black scales and dark red wings .... Exactly as you described it in your vision ...."  
The description of Athias spurred the curiosity of Kinvara, who immediately went down the steps to join the servant. Was it possible that it was her?  
_"Bring me to them, without losing a moment, and have a cart pulled up." she ordered. Athias did so immediately, and after a quick bow to the high priestess, left the room. Kinvara stayed for a few more seconds, turning again to the big altar dedicated to R'hllor, and showing a spark of satisfaction in her eyes.  
_ "Master of light ..." pronounced Kinvara as a new prayer to her god "... she came back to you, as you told me."  
********  
On this particularly dark night, in the grip of a strong wind from the east, Athias led Kinvara and many other servants to the place of discovery, where Jarad was waiting for them, still kneeling beside the body of the young silver woman. The dragon was still breathing but still seemed half conscious. On seeing the great fire-breathing reptile, Kinvara could not help but smile, while the few Fiery Hand soldiers escorting her, holding their wavy blade spears in their hands, stood ready in case the dragon would be too aggressive. A cart pulled by two horses was also brought. With the utmost care, on the orders of the high priestess, the body of the young woman with silver hair was transported and placed in the cart to be taken to the temple of Volantis. But before leaving, Kinvara approached, wrapped in a large and light red coat, which she took off the hood and stared at the woman's face and body, which she recognized immediately. The priestess smiles again, of unlimited satisfaction.  
_ "Thank our master of light, because in this night we have just found the one that was promised ..... Daenerys stormborn, of house Targaryen."  
**********  
Daenerys' body was brought back to the temple of Volantis and placed in the room of the altar, on a large stone table dotted with Valyrian symbols. By enormous means and the participation of many soldiers of the temple, Drogon, half dead, was able to be moved, placed on a huge wooden raft built expressly, and dragged to Volantis with chains by hundreds of men. An operation that took nearly two whole days, but eventually, the dragon could be brought into the courtyard of the temple, where, under the orders of Kinvara, he was taken care of by servants who should take care of feeding him to recover his forces.  
Accompanied by Athias and Jarad, Kinvara returned to the great room of the altar, where Daenerys' body was preserved, well protected by four soldiers from the Fiery Hand. The young Queen Targaryen had been stripped naked, her old clothes having been thrown away, and was simply dressed in a light silk loincloth to cover her breasts and another for her crotch. Kinvara advanced to the stone table, and could see with her eyes the wound inflicted by a blade on Daenerys' chest, having cause her death. The wound had not been bleeding for a while. Kinvara stood for long seconds contemplating the body of the young Queen Targaryen, in the glow of the great torches, under the silent glances of the two servants. Jarad began to speak to break the silence.  
_ "High Priestess .... If, as you said, Daenerys Targaryen is the one promised by our master and lord ... forgive me, but, being dead, she may not be the one who .... "  
Kinvara glared at him.  
_ "Dare you question the word of your high priestess, or our master?" she said as an undisguised warning, which made Jarad shudder as as back away immediately. As a servant and disciple, calling into question a high priest of R'hllor was in no way allowed.  
_ "If Daenerys lost her life ..." resumed Kinvara, walking slowly around the stone table "... it was decided that way ... just as our master decided to guide this dragon to Volantis, that she may be brought back to us .... It is time for us to fulfill the will of the Lord. "  
A few days before the storm came to devastate the area, Kinvara received a response from the master of light during her prayer. She had seen it, in the flames of the altar ... a monstrous storm, clouds as dark as the night, and flying among this deluge, a gigantic winged shadow, as volute as smoke, but also lightning spitting their heavenly fire on the earth .... as well as a voice, at once close but distant, an ethereal voice, almost unworthy to be heard by the ears of mere mortals, and pointing to a specific thing to the High Priestess ...  
At the behest of the High Priestess, the body of Daenerys was washed by servants and prepared. In the temple, all were gathered in the big yard.  
A few moments later, on a heavy night full of stars, a ceremony was prepared in the great courtyard of the temple, where all the servants were gathered, as well as the priests and priestesses and soldiers of the Fiery Hand. In the middle of this paved courtyard was erected a huge pyre, on which was stretched the body of Daenerys, dressed in a long and fine robe of ceremonial silk. Drogon, who had managed to regain some strength, had been oddly docile to the priests and priestesses of R'hllor. Maybe a way to thank them for saving his life and taking care of his mother's body. The big dragon was now standing near the pyre, uttering deep groans of sadness and touching Daenerys' body with the tip of his muzzle, as though hoping for a reaction from her. Above the temple, in the sky of an ink-black, floated the moon reflecting its light on the waters of Volantis. A shooting star, with a shade slightly red like blood, appeared for a few moments in the distant penumbra before disappearing. Kinvara approached the body, and came, delicately, to cut a lock of silver hair from the head, and then throw it in a small fire, or she watched the wick burn in the fire, with satisfaction. The first step was taken. No more time to lose now.  
Coming in the midst of her red priests and priestesses, Kinvara then began the ceremony, listened to by all in the utmost silence. Without her having to give the order, all the priests spread their arms, their eyes closed, and she did the same. The servants and the soldiers knelt on their knees, their heads lowered, and their eyelids closed. Kinvara then began the first, pronouncing words, in high valyrian:  
-"Zȳhys ōñoso jehikagon Āeksiot epi, se gīs hen sȳndrorro jemagon.... Zȳhys perzys stepagon Āeksio Ōño jorepi, se morghūltas lȳs qēlītsos sikagon.... Hen sȳndrorro, ōños. Hen ñuqīr, perzys. Hen morghot, glaeson."  
With her, it was the turn of the priests and priestesses to pronounce the incantation, followed then by the servants. All in this immense court, chanted and repeated again and again, this same incantation. Drogon began to react, looking frantically around him, as if he felt something, a very special energy through these words in the Valyrian language. His reptilian eye then rested on the moon, which seemed to have taken the reddish hue. Kinvara and her followers pursued relentlessly, chanting louder and louder the words addressed to their lord and almighty master. Jarad and Athias, among all their comrades serving the order, also felt, everywhere in their bodies and in their blood, this shudder, this particular magic imposing on the whole temple this palpable heaviness.  
After long minutes of incessant incantations, Kinvara opened her eyes sharply and her eyes met Drogon's. Without her saying a word, the dragon seemed to understand, in her iris, what she expected of him and what it would entail. Without hesitation, Drogon leaned forward in all his majestic and immense stature above the pyre, and unleashed his powerful blast of fire that ignited the latter in no time, covering it completely and the body of Daenerys in a fiery veil. As Drogon poured out his blaze of fire, Kinvara and R'hllor's priests continued the incantation without stopping. Three times, Drogon spat a real hell, with all his strength and in a roar as fierce as that of thunder.  
Time passed, and the ritual did not end until the first glimmers of the new gray dawn appeared. In the courtyard, nobody had moved and everyone had stopped talking. From the pyre nothing remained but an immense heap of ashes, the thick, gray smoke of which rose to the sky. Kinvara has approached the remains of the pyre, while Drogon seems to sniff and watch with interest. His reptilian iris shone then, as if he had felt something. Half covered by the ashes, Daenerys, completely naked, her ceremonial dress having burned, was intact, but still did not move.  
Suddenly, after a few sharp tremors, the eyelids of the khaleesi opened wide, round, and she straightened up stealthily, panting, trembling and in the grip of a panic attack. Looking at her hands covered with ashes, then touching her arms, her naked body, her face, that burning smell that stung her nostrils, she could see the wound in her chest. Then she saw Drogon, grunting happily, and that black-haired red priestess, smiling at her. Daenerys, completely lost, wanted to straighten up, but with her trembling legs and diminished strength, she almost fell back to the ground, but was supported by the servant Athias, who immediately put a blanket over her shoulders to cover her and warm up a bit. Daenerys frantically stared around her, frightened, seeing everywhere those red priests, and that mystical-looking place she did not know. Her panting gaze then rested on Drogon, who brought his big muzzle close to his mother, delighted to see her alive.  
_ "D .... Drogon?" "Daenerys stammered, her voice too weak and her throat dry. Using a heavy effort, she managed to reach out her arm and touch the tip of her dragon's muzzle with her thin hand.  
_ "Welcome, Daenerys stormborn..." said Kinvara with a satisfied face, before turning to the other priests and servants. "... Let's all salute, reborn from fire and ashes, the one who was promised ..." Kinvara said loudly. The priests and servants knelt simultaneously around the young Queen Targaryen, without her understanding what was happening, curled up under her blanket and trembling. Kinvara herself knelt before the young dragon queen. Drogon stood proudly on his hind legs, spreading his wings over their entire length and let out a roar of triumph to the sky, which echoed throughout the city and beyond to celebrate the rebirth of his mother. Daenerys did not know how to react. Her gaze rested again on the wound on her chest, which seemed to have closed. Images, like horrible flashes, came back to her mind ... She remembered how had happened .... who had committed this act ...  
_"I ... I ..." she stuttered, her face frozen in real panic, her breathing quickening, before rolling her eyes and collapsing into the arms of Athias, who supported her. Drogon groaned with concern at this.  
_ "High Priestess!" Athias also worried, supporting the poor young woman who had just came back to life.  
_"She's just fainted ... the shock ...." reassured Kinvara, sure of herself. Indeed, Athias could feel it, she was still breathing. "... please take her to a room so she can regain her strength and when she is awake, bring some food and clothes to her."  
_ "Yes, High Priestess." Immediately obeyed Athias, who cautiously raised Daenerys to carry her against him and lead her into the temple. Drogon seemed to want to insist on staying with his mother, but had to let R'hllor's priests take care of her.  
Remaining near the mound of smoking ash that remained from the pyre, Kinvara was thoughtful, silent, contemplating the ashes that gradually flew away, scattered by the morning wind and vanishing into the air.


	2. Part 2

The first thing Daenerys saw when she opened her eyes, her eyelids stuck a little, after her troubled sight was back to normal, was the ceiling of the little room she was in. A pleasant and light smell of incense permeated the air. She was lying in a comfortable single bed under a dark silk blanket. Her head was horribly painful, and she felt as if her whole body were suffering from aches and pains. Despite the pain, she managed to sit up, sitting in the bed and watching around the darkness of the room, lit simply by the rays of daylight filtering through the tile of the only window in the room.   
But a peculiar pain made her look down at her chest wound. Once again, she remembered .... Jon .... it was him who had done that .... she saw him again, in her mind, his face looking at her, and the stinging pain of the blade penetrating into her flesh ... the young woman's beating heart rose again, while without being able to prevent it, she shed tears, her lips trembling and plunging her face into her hands .... how was all of this possible? How could he do that to her? And above all, how could she come back? Why was she here? She also remembered Jon and his scars on the body, as well as the story of his return to the world of the living, brought back also by a priestess of R'hllor .... Had it happened for her too? Daenerys was more than lost, all mixing in her head, and the feeling of sadness invading her.  
The door of the room opened slowly in a squeak and the servant Athias entered, to find the young woman sitting under the blanket.  
_ "Ah, finally you're awake. You've slept for almost two days ... I'm bringing you something to eat, you need to regain your strength."  
The servant came to put down a small wooden tray containing a piece of bread, some cheese and a few pieces of dried meat, as well as a bronze water jug. Daenerys said nothing, staring at him suspiciously and retreated a little into the bed. Athias noticed it and smiled at her.  
_"Don't worry, you will not risk anything here."  
_ "B .... but ..... where am I?" she asked.  
_"In the temple of R'hllor, at Volantis. You are the high-priestess Kinvara's distinguished guest. We must take care of you, that is her will, as well as that of the master of light, who by a miracle as he alone can provoke them, has brought you back among the living."  
R'hllor? The master of light? Like many, Daenerys knew the worship devoted to this god and the many disciples who compose it. So, was it really him who had brought her back from the lands of death? But why? Feeling her stomach scolded fiercely, the young woman first chose to take the tray and eat timidly, which seemed reassured the young servant to see that she had kept the appetite. He also noticed the traces of dry tears on her cheeks. He would ask her why, but choose to leave her alone, knowing what she had already suffered.  
Feeling the food and the water running down her throat made Daenerys feel like she was really alive, literally. She watched as Athias came to lay clean and folded clothes on the bed, especially for her.  
_ "When you feel ready, you can get dressed and come to see the High Priestess."  
_"But ... how did I get to Volantis? I remember that ... I was in King's Landing when ...." She could not continue her sentence, her throat getting tied again because of the sorrow.  
_ "Your dragon has carried you so far ... He has even stood by you to protect your body, even starving himself of food and sleep. I must admit that I had never seen such devotion from an animal." replied Athias. At the mention of this dragon, Daenerys reacts immediately and seizes the servant by the collar.  
_ "Drogon! Where is he?! I have to see him!"  
_"Uh, he's in the backyard of the temple. He had to get some strength again ..." Athias replied. Daenerys did not wait any longer, spreading the blanket and getting up, her feet touching the cold pavement of the room. Athias, out of respect, looked away as the young woman, completely naked, seized the clothes on the bed and began to dress. A simple and modest dress of a dark green-gray color, short pants, as well as shoes. She did not even pay attention to Athias's presence as she put on the dress. She could see herself for a moment, in the small mirror resting on the wooden table in front of the bed. She could see her face dug by fatigue, doubt, her long silver hair undone and cascading over her shoulders ... Once ready, and without even the permission of the servant, Daenerys left the room hastily, pushing the door out of her way and closely followed by Athias who wanted to hold her. He held her by the wrist, which earned him a glare from her.  
_"Wait, wait, I know you're in a hurry, but you have to stay calm. You've just had a very violent shock and ..."  
_ "I have to see my dragon, do you understand?!" she insisted, releasing her wrist from his hand "... I want to make sure he's fine."  
At the woman's tone and stubborn gaze, Athias sighed heavily and then decided to accompany her, guiding her to the back yard. They crossed a large number of corridors and rooms, where Daenerys could see other servants at work, maintaining the temple, as well as red priests and priestesses working for their god. After a door, Daenerys finally found herself outside, feeling the fresh air come to caress her face and the light of the day come to greet her. And it is in the middle of this big space, that she saw him finally. Her dear child, her last still alive, his huge scaly body getting warm in the sunlight. Tears, of joy this time, flowed down Daenerys' cheeks as she walked unhesitatingly towards Drogon, who, noticing her, immediately rose with all his stature and came to her with affectionate grunts. Daenerys huddled against his muzzle, caressing him with all the love a mother could give to her son. Drogon seemed almost purring like a big cat. With the tip of his big tongue, the dragon came to lick her cheek gently in an emotional sign, which made a snort laughed from the young woman with the tickle.  
_ "Drogon ... I ... I'm so happy you're here .... you .... you saved me ..." she said in her tears of happiness. It is true. If she had been able to return, it was thanks to him, who, by taking her away from Westeros, had thus prevented anyone from getting rid of her body. Drogon listened to her, continuing to look at her and gently rub his muzzle against her as her hands caressed his black scales. Standing at the door, Athias stayed behind to let the young woman find her dragon in peace and returned to his temple duties.  
Daenerys, as an attentive mother, was looking all over Drogon's body to see the trace of some wound, but luckily he had nothing. He had regained strength and regained his appetite, judging by the many bones of animals that littered the backyard floor. R'hllor's servants had taken care of him, and inwardly she thanked them. At least he was still the dragon she knew, still letting his food scraps as a big child. Daenerys smiled, tenderly, seeing Drogon come to seize a half-eaten carcass of what was a goat and lay it in front of his mother, and looking at her with a childish air as if to offer her food.  
_ "I .... no thanks, Drogon, I've already eaten." she said with a little grimace at the smell of carrion and flies fluttering around. Drogon seemed to understand and did not deprive himself, enclosing his jaws on the carcass and swallowing it at once in a crack of bones and flesh.  
_ "Dragons are quite remarkable creatures." Suddenly, the voice of Kinvara, the high priestess, who came forward to meet the young Queen Targaryen. Drogon showed no sign of mistrust or aggression towards the red woman, knowing what she had done for his mother. Although still a little suspicious, Daenerys also knew that she owed her miraculous return to this priestess.  
_"Drogon is not only remarkable," said Daenerys, turning to her and looking at him with love and pride, "he is unique, and he is my child ... the only one I have in this world."  
Her thoughts returned for a moment to her two other sons, Viserion and Rhaegal, both dead during this infernal crusade to reconquer this accursed throne and the bloody war against the white walkers that had cost her a lot, whose life of her dearest and faithful friend, Ser Jorah. With a tight heart and a tight throat, Daenerys had a thought for him too, as well as her dear Missandei and Grey Worm. She hoped he was still alive, somewhere. She had lost everything .... everything. Sadness invaded her, but also anger, a bitter and disgusting mixture in her mouth. She saw the faces of Tyrion, her former hand that had let her down, and Jon, the man she loved, who had stuck a dagger into her heart ... Daenerys's fist was twitching, shaking softly. Seeing the young queen plunge back into her painful memories, Kinvara came to her.  
_ "If I understand correctly ...." said Daenerys turning to her "... I also have my return to your powers, red priestess."  
_"Oh, it's not my will in particular ..." Kinvara replied modestly as she joined her as the two women walked side by side on the pavement of the courtyard. "... I am only a humble servant."  
_ "So I have my return to the master of light, is that it?" questioned the young fallen queen again. Kinvara confirmed the question with a simple nod. Daenerys really had trouble conceiving it.  
_"Do you find that really so surprising? Did not you hear, like me, as we bring you back, that voice in the flames .... you heard it too, did not you?"  
Daenerys's face turned pale and Kinvara saw on her face the answer to the question. How could this priestess know? It was true. While she was almost dead, she did not really know how to describe the state in which she was, she had heard it ... that whisper, that disembodied voice in her ear while a powerful heat enveloped her ... Was it ..... him?  
_ "But ... but why me? Why have brought me back?"  
Kinvara understood this curiosity that devoured her, and invited the young Targaryen woman to follow her inside the temple.  
*********  
Kinvara led Daenerys into the great room of the altar, where the queen of the dragons could finally contemplate with her eyes this imposing room, whose mystical appearance was matched only by the heavy aura that reigned there, almost wrenching a shudder from Dany's body. Her attention was focused on the altar ... she was convinced that she had already seen it .... in a dream, or maybe it was not .... a big fiery heart all carved stone, standing in the middle of a dark and giant room, surrounded by flames .....  
 Kinvara, as usual when she went to this sacred place, lit one by one a few candles on the candlesticks arranged on one side, causing small dancing flames on each wick.  
_ "Answer me now, what your master can expect from me?" asked Daenerys, losing some patience. Kinvara understood it quite well, contenting herself with blowing the rod used to light the candles and resumed her conversation with her.  
_ "You are the one who was promised, Daenerys stormborn. A great destiny awaits you, as the master of the light has wanted ...."  
_ "A great destiny?" Daenerys interrupted, raising an eyebrow "... I was betrayed by those I thought were my allies, I was murdered by the man I loved, I lost two of my children and all my army .... where do you see a great destiny in this disaster?!"  
The young fallen queen was getting carried away, but calmed down very quickly to avoid sinking, and feeling that she was not yet fully recovered, blew a big blow. Kinvara was very calm, not insulted by the tone Daenerys had used towards her. Dany pulled herself together, and sat down on the stone bench in the back of the room, running her face between her hands and trying to tidy up her confused mind.  
_ "What .... what happened when I was ......?" she could not even finish her sentence as it sounded impossible.  
_ "The northern kingdom has become independent, and the six crowns are now ruled by a new king named Bran the broken .... the iron throne, as for it, is no more."  
At this last mention, the heart of Daenerys jumped and she raised her head to the priestess, and guessed in her eyes, that she was telling the truth.  
_ "The ... the iron throne has disappeared?"  
_ "Yes ..." confirmed Kinvara "... your dragon destroyed it after he found you dead in the throne room ..... I saw it in the flames ... . "  
_ "Drogon? But why did he do that?" Daenerys asks, even more lost.  
_ "As you said yourself, majesty, your dragon is unique, with an extraordinary intelligence .... the iron throne was what caused your downfall, and Drogon, in his clairvoyance, therefore decided to eliminate once and for all what had brought about the death of his mother, to avenge you, but also to deliver you .... "  
_ "To deliver me?" replied Daenerys, raising an eyebrow, wary of the explanations of the high priestess who pursued.  
_"To deliver you from the legacy of your ancestors, this same legacy that not only cost you your life, but also your most faithful allies .... you were not made for sitting on that iron throne, as you were not made to reign in Westeros .... "  
Daenerys had a hard time accepting that. She who, all her life, had fought with all her strength to take back the inheritance of her dynasty ... With the disappearance of the iron throne, what remained of the symbolic legacy left by Aegon the conqueror had just fainted forever, putting a definitive end to the reign of the Targaryen dynasty on Westeros. Daenerys was once again divided between sadness and anger. She had just lost everything this time. Another usurper had seized power in Westeros, a waking nightmare for the fallen young queen....  
_ "If what you say is true .... then, where is my true place?" Daenerys asked again, emptying her mind. Kinvara smiled at her, and with a gesture of the hand, invited her to get up and come near the stone pediestal in which was burning the flames of a brazier in a container of iron and bronze.  
_ "Come closer, Daenerys stormborn .... look in the flames and tell me what you see ...."  
Daenerys was beginning to be tired of all this mystery, but carried away by her curiosity and the belief that Kinvara was right, stepped shyly up to the brazier and stared her focused gaze on it. Standing behind her, Kinvara waited, watching intently.  
_ "What do you see?" said the high priestess.  
_ "I ..... nothing, only the flames ...." answered the young Targaryen, honestly, moderately convinced. Kinvara insisted that she continue to watch, more carefully. What Daenerys did. She could only see the dance of flames in front of her, nothing else, as if the world around her had faded away. There was only her and this brazier in front of her, nothing else. The pleasant heat came to caress her face, bringing her some moral comfort. This unique bond with fire, which she did not know how she could have gotten, had always been a way for her to feel alive.  
Long seconds passed during which Dany stared at the fire. The mystical aura became more and more felt as and when. Kinvara felt it too but did nothing, just showing a satisfied expression. Daenerys's expression also changed, looking astonished, voiceless, as if watching something in the midst of undulating flames.  
_ "I ... I see something ..." suddenly sighs the silver-haired young woman, without being able to look away from the brazier. "... dark lands, where the night never seems to end .... I see a city made of black stone ..... I hear .... yes, I hear cries .... cries of baby dragons! They come from this black mountain, shaped like ... a screaming skull ...... I ... there is a form in this mountain .... it ... it turns to me ... those eyes ... " fear grew in Daenerys's tone.  
Sudden, a crackling of the fire made Daenerys jump, who now could not see anything in the fire. Kinvara had not lost anything of the description made by the young woman, and did not seem really surprised either. Dazed by what she had just seen and heard, Daenerys came to sit on the stone bench. The cries of these baby dragons continued to resonate in her head, almost like calls.  
_ "I know what you've seen ...." Kinvara told her "... because I've seen it too."  
_ "But .... what does that mean?"  
_ "That your place is here, in Essos, Daenerys stormborn .... remember what you did for these lands, countless slaves that you have saved, lives that you have made better by your actions ... .. you are more than a queen ... you are a liberator, the one who was returned to us in fire and ashes, by the grace of the master of light."  
Was all this real? After all she could see, Daenerys could hardly question the intervention of a certain divine presence. But why her? The vision of these black mountains punctuated in this disturbing night, this city of black stone, came back to her mind. Kinvara guessed it as well, gently putting her hand on Dany's and kneeling in front of her.  
_"The master has shown you the way, it's up to you now to take it, and know that I, Kinvara, high priestess of Volantis, swears to follow you and serve you."  
Daenerys did not know how to react, but was still grateful to these priests for taking care of her and her dear Drogon. Although she could decide to ignore this vision, the latter could not detach from her mind. The cries of these baby dragons resonating in a distant echo obsessed her ... she had to discover what it was.  
_ "But ..... where should we go?" was the last question of the young queen. Kinvara gave her a clever look and a smirk, and gave a very special name that almost made Daenerys shudder.  
_ "Asshai."


	3. Part 3

Westeros, Iron Islands

The weather had turned to the storm in the early gray evening. On the docks, the many sailors were trying to secure the cargoes decked on the ships that would go to sea once the calm returned. A torrential downpour hit the region, the waves, powerful and wild, coming crashing against the rocky cliffs of Pyke, as if trying to reach the castle perched at the top.  
Yara Greyjoy was sitting on the armchair of her late father Balon, facing the fireplace orned with a kraken where were burning some poor logs. Silent and moribund, she vaguely listened to the wind howling outside against the walls of her castle, as well as the anger of the drowned god unleashing his fury through this storm. On the table lay the dry, cold remains of a meal to which the young and first queen of the Iron Islands had barely touched.  
Although she was crowned and now leading the Iron Islands with her strength that made her character, Yara had never felt so helpless and furious. She still could not stomach Jon Snow's betrayal to Daenerys Targaryen, and demanded that the head of the former king in the north be put on a pike. But Arya had threatened her, saying she would kill her if she dared to demand Jon's execution again. Yara had known young Queen Targaryen, having even signed a pact between their two houses in a strong alliance, and this betrayal to Daenerys had left her a bitter taste in her mouth. Despite the disappearance of the dragon queen, Yara remained faithful to her despite everything, just like the new Prince of Dorne. However, Yara had to bow and recognize Bran Stark as the new king of the six kingdoms, with the north now independent under the reign of Sansa Stark. More than once, Yara had also thought of claiming the independence of the Iron Islands and detaching herself from this system, which she despised even more now. She was astonished that she and the Prince of Dorne had not been executed on the spot by the new king for having voluntarily expressed their unbroken loyalties towards Daenerys.  
Yara sighed tiredly, rubbing her eyes. A certain melancholy weighed on him too. She would have liked Theon to be still there, to advise her, to support her ... he who gave his life to Winterfell for those same Starks .... In his memory, Yara had put the name of her late brother engraved on a large, flat, white stone proudly standing atop the wind on the peaks of Pyke, so that Theon's name remains forever ....  
Footsteps approaching, as well as the door of the room opening very slowly, made her emerge from her thoughts.  
_ "I thought I was clear .... I don't want anyone here, you're clogged or what?!" she said with a very pronounced annoyance. The guard bowed out of respect and came forward all the same.  
_"Forgive me, my queen, but a crow has just arrived from Dorne."  
Yara looked over her shoulder, intrigued, seeing the gloved hand of the guard holding the message still rolled and closed by the Dornian seal. Yara took the message and immediately dismissed the guard, who closed the doors behind him. Once again alone, Yara went to her table, and undid the seal with her knife. What could the Prince of Dorne want from her? Unrolling the parchment before her eyes, she began to read the writing in black ink. What she read then froze her on the spot, while her fingers trembled slightly and stupor paralyzed her face. She had to take several seconds to realize, sinking into one of the chairs, and lost that gloom to smile again. Was it .... really possible? The door opened again and the same guard entered.  
_"Forgive me again, my queen," he apologized again, "but a man has arrived by boat carrying the sails of Dorne, and asks to see you immediately."  
_ "Get him in." she replied, expecting this man to be the Prince of Dorne. The guard obeyed and moved aside, to let a man pass who was not, however, the prince. Yara recognized him, however, and looked surprised. The young man had a matte skin, very short black hair and a serious, almost closed face. He was standing upright, wearing armor in black thongs. He glanced at the message unfolded in Yara's hand, and almost seemed to know the contents without even reading it. Yara had already seen him at Meereen. He was the commander of the unsullied led by Daenerys Targaryen. Grey Worm. It was his name. Although he proclaimed he wanted to go to Naath, the leader of the unsullied seemed to have changed his destination.  
Knowing that he too had remained a faithful ally of Daenerys, she invited him in and ordered that the doors be closed so that she could speak with him privately. Once that was done, Yara approached him, pointing to the parchment.  
_ "Is this .... is it true?" she asked, still a little confused. Grey Worm said nothing, but nodded.  
_ "And ... where is she?"  
_ "Volantis." answered Grey Worm simply. Yara smiled. She now knew where to get her next sea expedition.  
**********  
Essos, Volantis

A little over a week since her return among the living. Daenerys remained in the temple, supported by the servants, many of whom were placed at the disposal of the young queen by order of Kinvara, as well as a more spacious room. A new dress was given to her, made of a fabric of better quality, of ebony color with red reflections, like red dragons with snake bodies sliding on her dress. Her silver chain representing a dragon had been returned to her. With the assistance of maids, Daenerys got her hair combed, as Missandei once did, like dothrakis.   
Daenerys was slowly recovering, eating and sleeping well, despite many nightmares and memories of her assassination that continued to haunt her. Not having been able to do it before, she had been thanked the two servants Athias and Jarad. Although not taking part in the rituals and other prayers consecrated by the priests and their servants, Daenerys was allowed to move around the temple, observing the life that was going on there. All these servants, trained to become priests or some women trained to become sacred prostitutes. She had also been able to observe the soldiers of the Fiery Hand, these mysterious warriors of R'hllor dressed in armors and capes with orange reflections, and their faces hidden by their helmets of bronze color, training, in a coordination of the most incredible. She had even been stunned to see them able to ignite the wavy tips of their spears, unleashing powerful, fast, precise attacks and dancing their fiery blades around them in a burning and deadly dance. A thousand warriors, not one more or less ... a thousand fire spears .... She had even seemed to see their eyes gleam like flames through the visors of their helmets, but perhaps she had dreamed?  
The man responsible for training them, revealed to Daenerys that the warriors of the Fiery Hand were all slaves, but were redeemed by the temple and trained to become mighty warriors, dedicated bodies and souls to their god. The strength of these warriors was at this point that Daenerys had come to think that they might even surpass the Unsullied.  
Daenerys could hardly believe she would see Asshai. This mysterious city at the end of the world was a legend for many people, and even some people saw it only as a myth to frighten children. Daenerys remembered, at the time when she was Drogo's wife, hearing some mentions of the city of Asshai from the dothrakis, who seemed to avoid this place like the plague. Even Drogo, who was a fierce leader and warrior, did not like to talk about Asshai and the shadow lands. It was the only time Dany thought hear an ounce of fear in his voice at the mention of the city of shadows. She did not know what she would find when she got there, and in a way it attracted her but frightened her too. Fortunately, Kinvara and Drogon would be with her.  
Although now knowing her future destination, Daenerys still could not get Kinvara to leave to Asshai. According to the High Priestess, other people should come join them for the journey to Asshai, and arrive shortly. Daenerys wondered who it could be, but Kinvara had been silent on the subject, simply telling the young queen that she would know it when the time came. These red priests and their fantasy for the mystery ... Daenerys sighed, but after all, if it finally allowed her to finally discover her true purpose, she agreed to wait a little longer ....  
During these days of living in the temple, Daenerys was doing everything to recover from the terrible ordeal she had endured. Her anger for Jon, for the Starks, for Tyrion, was still very present, but she was trying hard to erase it and focus on her new destination. Westeros had been for her only a path of suffering and death, and the inheritance of her dynasty having been erased forever, she would probably never return there. What Kinvara said was probably true ... Essos was where she was supposed to be, for the good of these people. She thought back to the cities she had freed from the domination of the slavers. How did the situation evolve in her absence? This question marked her a lot too.  
By this pleasant and warm afternoon, Daenerys had come to sit on the small bench in the backyard, letting the sun light up his face and warm his body. She could hear, distant, the echoes of the bells of ships anchoring in the port of Volantis and the few seabirds flying in the sky. Her pain to the scar in her breast was reduced, thanks to ointments provided by the servants of the temple to relieve her pain. She sometimes glanced at it, softly brushing the surface of the barely reformed scar, and each time there felt an unpleasant cold shiver, as if the ghostly blade of the dagger that had killed her was still there.  
Daenerys tried to change her mind by watching, with a tender smile, the great Drogon, letting his scales heat up by the light of the sun, rolled like a big dog in a corner of the yard and snoring as loud as bull with a cold. After what he had done for her, he deserved to rest as much as he wanted, especially before the journey that would come. She then decided to get up and sit down next to him, snuggling close to his big head and without waking him, caressed his muzzle very delicately. Drogon, without waking, gave a slight moan after the caress, and moved his head very gently. He was probably dreaming. What could a dragon dream of? Daenerys had often wondered when she looked at her three babies napping and sometimes wavering in their sleep.  
Drogon seemed to stir a little more in his sleep, growling louder. His dream must have turned into a nightmare. Always so delicately, Daenerys snuggled his head on his muzzle and continued to caress him ....  
_ "Shhhh ... it's nothing .... sleep my child, sleep ..." she murmured. To behave as such with a dragon would surely have her being treated like crazy by many, but she did not care. For her, her dragons had never been mere pets .... They had been and always would be her children, in life as in death. Feeling herself so lulled by the gentle heat and the gentle wind of the south, and safe with her son, the young woman began to close her eyes, snuggled against Drogon, and without realizing it, fell into a light sleep without dreams.  
Daenerys came out gently from her torpor, feeling the tip of Drogon's big muzzle, rubbing her shoulder to wake her up. Unaware how long she had sleep, she rubbed her eyes, smiling at her son as the dragon stared at her, his eyes glowing like incandescent embers.  
Dany got back on her feet, feeling a little better as a result of this little sleep under the heat of the afternoon. Her attention shifted to Drogon's back, then his head again. In the eyes of the dragon, she could guess as an insistence, seeing him also lean close to her. He wanted her to ride on his back, as she did so many times. Daenerys smiled again. The idea of flying again on her dragon's warmed her heart and she did not hesitate for a moment, and she felt it, he wanted it too. He had not been able to fly since his arrival at the temple, and it annoyed him to wait without doing anything else but sleep or wait for his next meal.  
Helped by her son who leaned to the maximum, the young woman climbed on his shoulder, helping herself with both hands and leaning on the black scales, before coming to position herself as a rider between the two shoulders of the dragon. Leaning forward, she firmly grasped two of Drogon's peaks and clung to it. Fortunately for her, she had not lost anything of her dragon rider reflexes.  
Knowing that she was well hooked, Drogon roared, before taking a few heavy steps forward to gain momentum, and with a bound, began his first flapping of wings, rose majestically towards the air, the wave produced by its wings making quiver and dance grass and foliage of the trees of the courtyard. Alerted by the noise, Athias and Jarad ran to the door of the courtyard to see, stupefied, the great reptile flying away. They were going to warn Kinvara, but the priestess was standing right behind them, already aware of it and expressing no concern, quite the opposite.  
_"What is she doing?" Jarad asked.  
_ "She's rediscovering who she really is." Kinvara replied with a smile, her eyes fixed on Drogon's form. Everywhere in Volantis, all the eyes of passers-by rose, shared between amazement and the fear of seeing this huge dragon flying over their city. In the streets and squares, the red priests and priestesses sent to spread the word of their god to the citizens, watched with pride the flight of the great black dragon, showing everyone that the queen was back.  
Clinging to Drogon's back, Daenerys felt freer and more alive than ever, regaining the feeling of stealing that she had almost forgotten and contemplating below, the city and the temple, which looked as small as doll houses. She felt the fresh air of the big sky whipping her face, her hair floating behind her, while Drogon was splitting the skies, letting out loud roars to express his satisfaction at flying again.  
Drogon then went into a dive, more and more quickly, getting closer to the waters of the river. Daenerys, well clinging, let him do it, with all confidence in him. Once only a few feet from the surface, Drogon straightened up, his belly brushing against the water, causing strong vibrations on his surface, before heading back to the heights. Daenerys felt her heart beat very hard, but for good feelings.  
After several long minutes of flight, Drogon finally landed among the great hills surrounding the city, by the river where he and his mother were found a few days earlier. Daenerys descended from Drogon and set foot on the smooth pebbles that bordered the stream. Drogon leaned down and ducked his muzzle to drink huge sips after the flight that had made him thirsty. Suffering a little too from the heat, Daenerys knelt at the edge of the water to dip her hands and pass a little on the face. The biting freshness of the water did her good. She admired for a moment, thoughtfully, her distorted reflection on the transparent and undulating surface of the water. Although she is still the same, Daenerys had a hard time believing she saw herself. A few days ago, she was dead yet.  
Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sensation of a nearby presence. Turning her head to her right, she saw a young girl, about six or seven years old, with matte skin, semi-long black hair, skinny and poorly dressed in rags. She held in her hands a few twigs of wood, probably to make a fire. The little girl dared not move, timidly staring at this young woman with silver hair, and behind her this huge reptilian creature who also noticed her presence and emitted a growl of mistrust. Dany immediately signaled him to calm down and stay where he is.  
_"Hello." said Daenerys in a friendly way, smiling at her. The little girl said nothing, not being able to look away from the big dragon who was staring at her.  
_ "Don't be afraid, he will not hurt you." Daenerys added, straightening up to meet her. But the little girl make steps back, intimidated, and finally ran away to disappear behind the first hill. Dany did not try to hold her back and watched her go away. This simple gesture brought back other painful memories from King's Landing. She, who lost her means on Drogon, ravaging the city of King's Landing, resulting in the death of hundreds of innocent men, women and children. How many girls of the same age as the one who stood before her had burned alive without she know it? The regret seized her throat and her heart. Looking again at her reflection in the water, she almost thought she saw a monster. What had she done? Fists clenched, she let out a tear of regret that fell to mix with the water of the river and be carried in the current.  
But opening her eyes, Dany's expression was changed. More determined. Never again would she allow herself. The only ones who would suffer the fire of her anger right now would be the torturers and others guilty of the worst treatment inflicted on the poor. Despite having worked to liberate Slaver's Bay, slavery in Essos was still very present and it was her duty to put an end to it, once and for all. Going back to Drogon, she was more than decided. The iron throne being no more, the young queen of Westeros was too. She would henceforth be what she was always destined to be: the liberator of Essos!  
*********  
A little later, once returned to the temple of Volantis, Daenerys had returned to her room. Sitting on the bed, she had lit in front of her, on a small table, a small brazier whose flames she had been fixing for almost half an hour now. Once again, she had been able to see again the black mountains plunged into this perpetual night .... this screaming skull-shaped mountain, whose fog seemed to emerge from its stone orifices .... and these calls of baby dragons resonating , from the darkness of these unexplored caves ....  
No longer receiving any answer from this master of the light, Daenerys extinguished the brazier, to remain pensive in front of the fine fumes of the dying fire escaping in front of her. A knock at the door made her come back to reality.  
_"Come in."  
It was the priestess Kinvara who appeared on the threshold of the room, always dressed in her same red dress and wearing this large golden medallion adorned with her precious stone.  
_"Your Majesty, your allies have arrived, they are waiting for you in the great hall."  
Her.... allies? Daenerys stared at her, perplexed. What allies could she talk about? There was no one left, unless .... she thought she was guessing someone in particular, but was it possible ....?  
More than intrigued, she followed Kinvara to the room in question. At the bottom of the large marble steps stood two people, patiently waiting, and whom Daenerys recognized immediately, her heart jumping with surprise.  
_ "G....Grey Worm? Yara Greyjoy?" stammered Daenerys. It was them. The leader of the unsullied and the Queen of the Iron Islands looked up at her, too, unable to prevent the surprise and joy at the sight of the young dragon queen, alive and well, by a miracle. Both had sailed from the Iron Islands following the news of her return. Daenerys went down the stairs to meet them. Immediately, Grey Worm, in a reflex, knelt before his queen, head down. But Daenerys fell on her knees before him and took him by the shoulders, forcing him to look up at her.  
_ "Torgo Nuhdo .... Thanks to the gods, you are alive ...." said the young queen, more than happy to finally see a familiar face, that of a friend more than faithful. Grey Worm also smiles, also expressing his relief at seeing his queen again and alive. Daenerys then turned to Yara and took her by the hands. The young iron queen was stuck at the sight of the queen to whom she pledged allegiance, here and alive after what had happened.  
_ "So it was true .... but ... but how?" Yara asked.  
_"Well ... Drogon brought me here, and let's say, that I got a ... miraculous help..." The young Targaryen woman frankly replied, nodding to Kinvara who went down the steps to join the little group. With respect, Grey Worm and Yara greeted the High Priestess, who gave them back the salute.  
_ "But how did you know?" asked Daenerys in turn to her two allies. Yara and Grey Worm then stared at the priestess, leaving her to explain.  
_"After your return, I allowed myself to write to the new Prince of Dorne, who, despite having bowed to the rise of King Bran the Broken, continued to express his allegiance to you. Grey Worm who had taken refuge at Dorne with his unsullied, was immediately informed of it, and in his turn warned Queen Yara."  
_"What they did to you is unforgivable, my queen." Yara said dryly. "I could never have betrayed you like that, for such was the pact arranged between our houses .... If it were up to me, I would inflict on them the punishment they deserve."  
Daenerys understood perfectly the reaction of her ally, because more than once it had crossed her mind. But, following the revelations of the high priestess, the Targaryen lady could not turn away from the new goal she had set for herself.  
_"I had sworn to build a better world, and that's what I would do ... but not in Westeros. It is time for Essos to find back his liberator." Daenerys announced, provoking the curiosity of Yara and Grey Worm.  
_ "The lord of light has brought us all together, here in this place ...." adds Kinvara to the three "... the time of departure has now come ... Asshai is waiting for us."


	4. Part 4

The day of departure had finally arrived. Daenerys Targaryen, who was came back to life in fire and ashes, accompanied by her faithful allies, went to the docks of Volantis to take her place on the ironborn ship chartered by Yara Greyjoy, the same ship that had led her and Grey Worm to Essos. The young ironborn queen, wearing her iron plastron with the kraken's coat of arms and her long, deep gray coat, a sword and a short ax clinging to her belt, vociferated with her usual character her orders on the upper deck, the ironborn sailors having followed her, preparing for the departure as soon as possible.  
Daenerys had once again donned her long ebony dress with red dragon patterns snaking along, and also a cape of the same color, with a hood to protect her from the rain. Grey Worm standing to her left, and Lady Kinvara to her right, the young Queen Targaryen contemplated the crew moving in all directions of the ship, whose sails marked with the great Greyjoy kraken, unfolded in the wind. A dozen warriors from the Fiery Hand were there, in perfect order and without moving, serving as an escort to the high priestess, and would accompany her throughout the journey. The ironborn sailors often cast rather curious glances at these strange silent soldiers, and swear they saw their eyes glowing like flames beneath the visors of their helmets. A few unsullied soldiers were also present, having accompanied Grey Worm so far. The rest of the unsullied, according to Grey Worm, had remained at Dorne.  
It was at the beginning of the afternoon under a favorable wind that the ship left the port of Volantis, slipping on the waves towards the high seas, and towards the East, towards Asshai. Daenerys knew that this trip would be long, but she was more determined than ever to pursue her new path, and now knowing she was supported. Her confidence increased at the sight of Drogon, whose shadow covered the ship for a brief moment. The dragon hovered, in all its splendor, passing the ship but still remaining in its surroundings, hinting at its powerful roars through the sea breeze and from the end of its claws grazing the surface of the water. Going up to the bow of the ship, Daenerys remained silent, feeling her silver hair float in the wind, contemplative of the ocean now looming in front of her as far as the eye could see. The great journey to the Shadow Lands began.  
**********  
The first days at sea passed without incident, the currents and the wind being favorable. That night, the ship had dropped anchor near a small desert island for Drogon had been able to land to sleep, not without having before caught a huge shark in the water to devour it on the beach. On the deck of the ship, the ironborn sailors, while eating, engaged in games of chance, mainly dice, and seemed to bet their pay against each other. The unsullied, Worm Gray among them, and the soldiers of the Fiery Hand, remain silent, being content to take their meal without saying a word, unlike the ironborns who spoke and laughed with good heart between them.  
Standing at the bow of the ship, Lady Kinvara was a little isolated, contemplating the immensity of the sky covered with darkness and the glow of stars reflected on the ink surface of the water. Yara, holding a goblet of beer in her hand, came to keep her company, leaning against the rail and offering a sip to the priestess, the latter politely refusing.  
_ "Sorry if my sailors seem a little noisy. They are big morons at times it's true, but it's the guys on whom I can count." said the queen, casting a glance at her men a little further down the bridge, two of whom had apparently started a tight battle. Kinvara did not show any embarrassment.  
Silence again between the two women, and Yara, after taking a sip of beer, decided to break it again.  
_"So you brought her back, if I understand correctly? If that's the case, I'd like to thank you for it."  
_"It was the lord of the light who wanted it so ..." calmly corrected Kinvara "... It was by his will that I and the dragon were able to take back Daenerys stomrborn from the arms of the Other."  
_ "The Other?" Yara raised an eyebrow at this strange definition.  
_"You will learn, Queen Yara, that some wars are beyond the understanding of ordinary mortals. Our Lord is the god of fire, light, and life, and we, his servants, are in perpetual conflict with his sworn enemy, to whom we give no name. The so-called Other incarnates cold, death, terror and pain, and aspires only to cover the world in its darkness and to erase all traces of life on earth."  
Yara listened with more or less attention, yet having a hard time believing in all those beliefs she knew little about, and in this eternal war between two omnipotent beings fighting over the right to rule over this world and its people.  
_ "But .... and what does Daenerys Targaryen have to do with all this?" Yara asks in second question.  
_ "She is the one chosen by our master, who for this purpose sent her three dragons frozen as stones that she could bring back life into his purifying fire at the price of three lives ..." continued the high priestess "... the master of the light has nothing to do with an iron siege. Daenerys stormborn was never destined for such a futile quest. He has bigger plans for her."  
_ "What plans?" Yara said, taking a sip. Kinvara, with her wicked eye, looked at her with a smirk.  
_"She told you: to build a better world. She will spread the light of our Lord and show the peoples of Essos the way to follow far from darkness."  
Faced with this almost mystical speech, Yara was divided, but with the return to life of the young Queen Targaryen, did not really know what to think of all that.  
Meanwhile, Daenerys was asleep in the larger cabin of the ship, which was offered to her. Sheltered under the comfortable blanket, the young woman slept peacefully despite a difficult start to the night.  
She suddenly opened her eyes, feeling a sudden sense of unease. The temperature in the cabin had strangely cooled down, at high speed, so much so that she could see the steam coming out of her mouth with every breath. But above all, she felt like a real presence with her, and felt herself being watched. Straightening up in bed, curled up under the blanket, she searched in the darkness. The only light that was present was the rays of the moon filtering through the porthole and showing small silvery light. Groping, Daenerys finally found the little candle extinguished on the small table next to her bed and managed to create a small flame to better light the room. Nothing. She was alone, though the feeling of coldness and ill-being was becoming more oppressive.  
The flame of the candle was suddenly blown, though no gust of wind could enter the closed porthole. Daenerys, her heart pounding, dared not move. And it was there that her blood and eyes froze with terror. At the foot of her bed, stood a silhouette of human appearance, very tall, which was not there the second before, she was certain. The form had the appearance of a shadow, draped in a long black cloak, composed of opaque black smoke and a hood covering his head. Behind him lay in the shadows like smoke-black wings, spreading from his back, with a wingspan reaching almost three meters. Daenerys leaned back on her bed, unable to call for help as fear gripped her throat like a powerful, invisible hand gripping her. She could not discern his face, the latter hidden entirely behind a kind of mask whose material resembled to old bone, and whose shape showed that of a human skull. Behind this mask, gleamed two eyes of a morbid pale color... this form, those eyes .... she had already seen them, in the flames, in this black skull-shaped mountain, in the temple of Volantis ...  
_ "Who ... who are you?" Daenerys managed to articulate in her trembling lips. The shadow slowly turned its head towards her, without showing any hostile sign against her. He was as terrifying as the Night King.  
_"Never were names given to us, and it will always be so .... But we know who you are, Daenerys of house Targaryen."  
His voice ... by the gods, his voice ... impossible to describe, but so inhuman, so ethereal, that it seemed not to be made to be heard by human ears ... Daenerys felt it clearly, feeling her ears and her head being hammered with every word pronounced.  
_"What do you want from me?" she asked next, without taking her eyes off the thing.  
_ "What doesn't have a heart can not desire anything. The real question that you ask is: you, what do you want? You, whose blood of the dragons of ancient Valyria flows in the veins ..." replied the shadow at once, whose gleam of eyes redoubled "... only fire can revive the flesh that was changed into stone ... and as you already know it, only a death can pay for a life."  
Faced with these words, Daenerys seemed to hear again the cries of baby dragons she had heard in her vision. The echo seemed to come from the shadow itself. She also saw the faces of Jorah, and Missandei, both staring at her for a brief moment before vanishing into the meanders of her memories. Dany remained frozen, feeling heer blood shake in her veins.  
_ "I ... I hear them .... these poor little ones .... they are lost ..." sighs the young woman.  
_"They're calling for you ..." said the unnamed entity "... Three heads, the dragon must always have. It is known." Suddenly, in a fraction of a second, the entity had advanced to the side of the bed, right next to Daenerys, making her jump again. An emaciated, skeletal hand slowly emerged from the cloak and brushed the wrist of the young woman with the tips of his disgusting and cold knuckles. "... But beware of the raven with three black eyes, who sees and knows everything before anyone knows it."  
On these last words, the shadow disappeared and vanished gradually in the darkness of the cabin, leaving Daenerys alone again. The heavy aura of discomfort and biting cold had also vanished. Disturbed by this meeting, Dany sat in bed, her heart beating wildly. The cabin door opened, and the glow of a lantern, held by Yara Greyjoy, lit up the room. The iron queen found the young Targaryen woman curled up in her bed, looking at her with an expression of great fear.  
_ "Your grace, are you all right?"  
_ "I .... I think, yes ... this .... it was just a bad dream." was all that Daenerys could answer, resting her head against the pillow, but not knowing if she would manage to sleep again after this apparition. Although she really wanted to talk about it, Dany chose to say nothing about this shadow, not wanting to worry Yara and the ironborn sailors on board. The idea of going to Asshai did not please them much, it was useless to fill their heads with stories of ghosts haunting the ship. She might have thought she had dreamed, but the reality of the thing caught her when, her heart jumping, she observed on her wrist, the marks left by the fingers of this thing, gradually disappearing from her skin.  
*********  
Westeros, King's Landing

Installed in his new hand of the king's office somewhere in the red keep, Tyrion Lannister was busy sorting through the many messages that the kingdom received daily, all in the overwhelming heat of this new summer that had just begun. Rubbing his chin with no trace of his beard, which he had shaved since then, the dwarf was examining a particular document sent by the iron bank of Braavos claiming the debt incurred during the reign of Cersei Lannister. Sighing with annoyance, Tyrion grabbed his quill and began to write his answer that he would send with a raven and promising to repay the debt as soon as possible. The many debts Cersei incurred during her reign had heavily indebted the kingdom, and Tyrion was doing his best to clean up the disaster his sister had left behind her.  
He took a few moments, dropped the paper in front of him on the desk and poured himself a glass of wine. Rising from his seat, he advanced to the balcony of his office, offering a splendid view of the capital, as well as the sea a little further, on which arrived some merchant ships from Essos and other countries.   
His loneliness was interrupted following the arrival of the master of the ships, Davos Seaworth.  
_ "Master of the ships, what is this pleasure of your coming?" he greeted Tyrion neutrally before finishing his glass of wine. Davos seemed to him somewhat withdrawn.  
_ "His majesty Bran reunite the council immediately."  
Tyrion raised an eyebrow.  
_ "I did not think a council meeting would be scheduled today."  
_ "Well now it is ..." Davos replied "... and according to the king, this is some of the most important news."  
More than intrigued by Lord Seaworth's revelations, Tyrion decided to postpone the paperwork and followed his friend from the small council out of the room.  
Both arrived in the room where council meetings were usually held. Around the big table had already gathered the master of coin, Lord Bronn. The grand maester, Samwell Tarly. The commander of the King's Guard, Brienne of Tarth, and of course, sitting at the end of the table, King Bran Stark, still showing the same serious and neutral face, hands clasped on his knees and waiting patiently. Some chairs around the table remained empty, the places of master of the whisperers and master of the laws being for the moment remained vacant. Greeting with a nod of their sovereign as well as their confreres of the council, Tyrion and Davos came to take their respective places around the table, thus beginning this meeting.  
_"All right now, I declare this council meeting open." Bran said calmly.  
Sitting at the end of the table facing the king, Tyrion was the first to speak.  
_"If I may allow myself, majesty, Lord Davos here has informed me of some of the most important news that you wanted to share with us. Forgive me for being so fast, but what kind of news may well require a meeting of the council?"  
_"In general, this is rarely good news." Bronn commented, still with the same ease in saying what he thinks. One by one, Bran looked at the council members and spoke again.  
_"Yara Greyjoy has received a message from the Prince of Dorne. She has left the Iron Islands to go to Volantis with the commander of the unsullied, the man named Grey Worm."  
Already, this first announcement surprised all the members of the council.  
_"But ... why, what would they do to Volantis?" asked Tyrion, a little out of time.  
_ "I tell you ... it smells like shit ..." Bronn heavily insisted expecting the worst, which annoyed the others a bit. Bran did not keep the suspense any longer.  
_ "Daenerys Targaryen is alive."  
Following this, a heavy silence fell around the table.  
**********  
Offshore, in the Summer Sea

The ironborn ship continued its journey on the waters of the Summer Sea. In this new morning, Daenerys had awakened earlier. Although she kept this secret to herself, the appearance of this creature in her cabin a few days ago still haunted her. Leaning on the rail towards the bow of the ship, she remained pensive, her eyes leaning towards the waves coming to split against the hull. A croaking made him raise his head. A raven was perched on one of the ship's ropes. He turned his little round black eyes towards her, as if he were looking at her. Daenerys remained motionless, watching the bird, while remembering the words of the entity: beware of the raven, the one who sees and knows everything before anyone knows it. She thought about this young man, now king, Bran Stark. Although she had not really rubbed shoulders with him when she came to Winterfell, she could see his strange power allowing him to see everything that was happening, or even what had happened. Through the bottomless black eye of the bird, she felt like, strangely, Bran's gaze on her.  
After looking at it, the raven uttered another croaking before taking off, moving away, in the opposite direction in which the ship was heading westward.  
_"Rest assured, no matter how powerful the clairvoyant raven is, the master of light will never allow him to harm you." suddenly said the voice of Lady Kinvara, decidedly always so skilful to make surprise arrivals. Daenerys stared at her, seeing in her iris that the priestess too knew what had happened that night.  
_"What was it? Tell me, and no more mysteries this time." Daenerys asked. Having sworn to serve her, Kinvara obeyed with a small nod and came to the side of the young woman.  
_"The lands of the shadow beyond Asshai are inhabited by all kinds of things that go beyond the laws of nature, some of which being even older and more dangerous than the white walkers and whose names, if they had any. have been long forgotten. What are they? What do they think? What do they want? No one knows. They were there long before the First Men, and will stay long after the mountains have turned into dust, when the waters will be turned into deserts, and when the last man will be gone from the surface of this world."  
Daenerys listened, feeling a thrill of both fascination and anguish at the description of these mysterious creatures from the shadows. This thing that came to see her in her cabin was one of them? The lands at the far east of Essos being very poorly known and almost unexplored, it was possible that such things could exist without the world being aware of them.  
_ "When I saw him .... I felt this penetrating cold in my flesh, freezing my blood .... I felt his eyes with a bottomless white on me, this feeling of helplessness in me ..." Daenerys said, a little shuddering at the idea of talking about this creature again. Seeing her thus, Kinvara was made to advise her.  
_ "As with all of us, the lord of the light puts you to the test, Daenerys stomrborn, and you more so. He wants to show us if you will be worthy of him, if you will be able to continue the path that was traced to you through the dark night full of terrors."  
Was Kinvara true? Was this creature sent as a test to test Daenerys? To have been killed by the man she loved and to return to life had they not been trials that were already more than satisfying? Obviously not, at least from the point of view of this red god. Anyway, if this was a challenge, Daenerys was determined to take it up and continue her journey to Asshai and her dream as a liberator.


	5. Part 5

It was almost two weeks since the expedition had left Volantis and crossed the Summer Sea. After several stops in different ports, a new stop this time led the ironborn ship in the port of a city that Daenerys already saw before, and hoped never to see a day despite its legendary beauty: Qarth. The ship was now anchored in one of the many large wharves of this wealthy city. In the midday sun, from the deck of the ship, Daenerys, protected from the sun by her silk hood, watched in silence as life was in full swing in the harbor. Around them, other ships, mainly merchants, landed their goods, while other seamen took other boxes to carry them away. Objects of value, fabrics, glass and jewels, trade of spices and wines, animals, medicinal plants .... the trade had remained very alive in Qarth as she could see, and unfortunately, the practice of slavery too, as she could see a number of men and women, dressed in rags and wearing necklaces around their necks, being taken with chains by sailors, probably pirates who had captured them. Daenerys sighed at this sight, but remained patient, because soon, even the all-powerful city of Qarth should give up this immoral practice.  
At her side, Yara, Grey Worm and Kinvara also contemplated the great city and its buildings so large, so rich. Never in her life would Yara think of seeing a place like this one day. She remained speechless.  
_ "Qarth ...." Daenerys coldly commented ... "The first time I came here, a wealthy merchant wanted to seduce me to seize my dragons and a wizard wanted to keep me chained in a dark crypt for eternity, with my dragons, to strengthen his own power."  
She saw it as if it had happened yesterday. Chained against her will by this despicable Pyat Pree, assuring her that she would stay for long summers and winters. Her dragons, still babies, also chained like prisoners, finally saving the life of their mother with their fire, putting a final end to the wizard's actions.  
_"This place would make the Lannisters like penniless beggars ..." Yara said in her turn, stunned by the great towers of the city, saw some of the facades made of gold and inlaid with glittering precious stones in the sunlight. Daenerys gave a half smile after this remark of the ironborn lady.  
_ "Yes ..... a beautiful golden cage, that would be best suited to describe this city." Daenerys added before turning around and returning to her cabin, still escorted by Grey Worm and Lady Kinvara. The young woman Targaryen not wishing in any case to put the foot in this city, would decide to wait for the departure. On the deck of the ship, the Fiery Hand soldiers, as usual, stood guard, scrutinizing every person who passed too close to the ship. Drogon, meanwhile, had stayed a good distance and had taken refuge on one of the offshore islands, so as not to be seen. Daenerys had told him to stay there until the ship left. It was better not to attract too much attention, especially now.  
While some of the ironborn sailors had been assigned to supply food for the rest of the trip, Yara, knowing that she had a few hours to kill before leaving, decided to go explore a little around the city. After asking one of the unsullied to warn Queen Daenerys of her absence, Yara went down the platform and began her walk on the docks, amidst the many passers-by, sailors and tradesmen, most of whom sometimes threw curious glares to her. Surely they had never seen a woman wearing armor and weapons on her belt. Some merchants praising the merits of their stall goods tried to attract Yara to buy, but she was not swayed. Shopping did not interest her. She was an ironborn. What she wanted, she took if she wanted.  
For long minutes, and always overwhelmed by this overwhelming heat, Yara walked along the endless quays of Qarth, meeting ever more merchants and sailors of all kinds, nobles as poor. She also saw curious animals that she had never seen before, like big beige quadrupeds, with two bumps on her back, an elongated neck and head and a rather bewildered look. She also lives birds with plumage very varied and colorful, some even being able to pronounce semblants of words with their beaks. Men were engaged in all sorts of tricks to attract attention. One of them showed himself capable of swallowing swords to the hilt without piercing himself, and another, seated in the dust, produced a slow and melodious music with a great flute, making out of his wicker basket in front of him an undulating snake, hypnotized by the melody. Yara was looking at it with great fascination. If her late father had seen this city, he would have gone mad at so much wealth at hand.  
Feeling her throat dry by the heat, Yara decided to stop and entered what was a small tavern near the docks. The establishment, a little shabby, was rather crowded, people coming to take refuge inside to protect themselves from the bite of the sun. A strong smell of alcohol and perspiration permeated the place. Men and women, all more varied than the others, discussed among themselves, drank, others were half drunk on their tables after drinking too much ... in a corner, a group of bounty hunters celebrated their catch with their newly acquired premiums. Not really an establishment where the nobles came. With her quickdraw, Yara was rather noticeable at the entrance, several men, dressed as pirates or mercenaries, having turned their eyes not really friendly towards her. She stared at them too, but showed her hand on her ax, making it clear that it was better for them to not look for trouble. Besides, all she wanted was to drink and nothing else.  
Seeing no table free, and went to sit at the counter. The innkeeper, a rather round man with a bald head and sweaty skin, stood in front of her, wiping a cup with a napkin. At first a little intrigued by the appearance of the young woman, but what in the end did not seem to displease him, he resumed his role very quickly.  
_ "And what about you?" he said in his hoarse voice. His fetid breath came close to Yara's nostrils, who had to restrain herself from not wincing in front of him. She almost felt drunk by just breathing.  
_ "Do you have beer?" she asked. The man nodded and walked away to prepare the order. He returned a few seconds later with a glass in hand which he placed in front of Yara, who on her side, affixed a coin on the counter wood to pay.  
_"You need something else?" the innkeeper asked now, leaning on the counter, smiling, and even allowing himself to offer Yara a wink. I'm dreaming or this big pig is trying to seduce me? she said to herself, almost feeling his perverse gaze pass through her clothes.  
_"Yeah, leave me alone while I'm drinking." she allowed herself to answer in a tone to make things clear. The innkeeper, despite his great build, did not insist and returned to his other customers. Before drinking, Yara glanced at the beer, which did not have a very reassuring color, nor the smell that came from the mug. Obviously, here they were more like spitting in glasses to clean them.  
But while she was about to force herself to drink to cool off a bit, even if it made her sick, a shadow covered her just behind her, drawing her gaze over her shoulder. Two of the mercenaries who had stared at her earlier were standing there, looking at her with a rather perverse air.  
_"Well, my dear, what are you doing here, and what armor are you wearing?" asked one of them, a fellow with black hair in mess and a blind eye, closed by a long scar. Sighing a big blow, Yara put down her mug and turned to them, without showing any ounce of fear.  
 _ "I'm going to make it clear, guys ..." Yara told them in a scathing voice "... we can settle this peacefully, and so you can get out of this tavern with your balls always at their place."  
Yara's respondent caught the attention of many people in the tavern, and a silence almost came. The two mercenaries gave the same expression of astonishment, but furious to see a woman resisting them in the way. The man with the one-eyed eye acts first and wants to grab his knife at his belt. But Yara was quicker, catching her short ax and with a violent blow, sending the edge of the weapon between the two legs of the man. The latter let out a horrible scream of pain as the blood ran down the floor, as if he was pissing red liquid at will. Seeing his comrade having the parts sliced and collapsing on the ground, the second mercenary, a tall, slender, unshaven fellow with short, light brown hair, took his weapon, a curved-blade sword, and glanced assassin against Yara.  
_ "You will regret being born!" he spat with hatred. Yara gave him a provocative smile, also grabbing her sword in her second hand, preparing to receive her next opponent. All the other customers had gone, but obviously quite used to this kind of brawl here. But what Yara had not seen was a third mercenary, arriving behind her back and preparing to hit her on the back with his ax.  
Suddenly, the ax splitting the air to slice Yara's back, was stopped by a stick, made of solid wood but also surprisingly supple. The mercenary, caught off guard, had only time to see the same stick hit him in the face, hurting an eye and making him back off while letting go of his weapon. Yara turned to see what was happening behind her, and what she saw surprised her.  
The individual who had saved Yara from death was, to say the least, unexpected. He was thin and medium-sized, dressed in a strange but elegant tunic of a deep blue fabric and white at the ends of the sleeves and closed by a leather belt whose buckle was decorated with a small gemstone green. He wore black trousers, as well as curious wooden shoes, leaving his feet half in the open air. He had pale skin with a slight hint of yellow, slanted eyes with black irises, a face marked by the experience of life on the roads, long hair, a mustache and a thin pointed black goatee, with a few strands graying. The top of his head was protected by a strange hat shaped conic and woven with stems of dried plants. The wood stick he held in his hand was almost as tall as he was. He did not look like most locals at all, because he too, with his accoutrement and his appearance did not go unnoticed.  
_"Hey you, Yi Ti's man! This is not your buisness!" warned one of the two mercenaries by pointing to the stranger. The latter said nothing, just staring at the two men one by one in a calm manner, as if he were gauging them. The seers both approaching with their weapons, the stranger smirked, not at all worried. Yara remained puzzled and watched what was going on.  
The man with the strange hat began a series of fast and unbelievable movements with his long wooden stick, spinning all around him, passing from hand to hand, and freezing into a fighting position, ready to receive enemy attacks. Yara was speechless, like everyone else in the tavern. Never before had she seen such fluid and fast movements.  
The first mercenary attacked, easily stopped by the stranger's stick, which in turn, deviated the blade with a movement to the side, then struck him a violent blow in the face, then in the belly, and finally the chin all in a few seconds, and the mercenary fell to the ground, unable to act anymore but still breathing.  
Although his friend was knocked down so quickly, the third and last mercenary did not give up and, in turn, tried to inflict violent blows with his ax, attacks that the stranger managed to avoid with disconcerting ease, such as if he was seeing the blows come in advance. Having managed to pass in the back of his opponent, he slammed a stick blow at the level of the back, destabilizing the mercenary, who carried away by his anger, continued the random blows. The man of Yi Ti, once again, appears to be attacking with the same rapid and almost graceful movements. He gave the impression of being one with the air around him and making it dance with his wooden stick. Yara also notice that he was not trying to kill his opponent, but only to put him out of action while aiming for the vital points. This art of combat combining strength, speed and agility, and without putting to death ... this form of combat that she had never seen before amazed her. It's as if he's using his opponent's own strength and anger to better defeat him.  
The stranger showed extraordinary agility, leaping to run the length of the counter while avoiding the blows of the ax with other prodigious leaps, to press the end of his stick against a wall, giving himself thus a considerable momentum to leap over his opponent. The man of Yi Ti turned several times on himself quickly in the air before getting to his feet, in the back of his opponent, without the latter can have time to understand what was happening. The art of moving of this man impressed Yara a lot as well. He used the elements of the environment he was in to fight and dominate his enemy. Throughout the fight, he remained calm, focused on his movements and those of the mercenary, without anything disturbing him.  
The man of Yi Ti finally put an end to this confrontation and finished his opponent by a blow with the sharp of his hand in the neck, which immediately froze the mercenary who collapsed heavily face down on the floor. Without saying a word, under the eyes of all, the stranger went to his table, catching with the end of his stick what looked like a simple bundle and put it on his shoulder. Yara tidied her weapons and walked over to him.  
_ "Although I did not necessarily need help, thank you for intervening." she says. The man with slanted eyes smiled at her very friendly.  
_"Oh, but I do not doubt that you could have defeat them alone, but I could not tolerate the cowardice these men showed, especially towards a woman."  
His voice was a mixture of old and young with a very pronounced accent, kind and adding a semblance of confidence.  
_ "But ... you don't know me, why did you help?" Yara adds, a little circumspect.  
_ "Why would not I do it? Why should I focus only on myself? It is only by helping others that you can help yourself."  
Faced with this diction filled with a most palpable wisdom, but which she did not really grasp the meaning, Yara remained silent while after a salute, the stranger left the tavern not without having before throwing some coins on the counter to pay the damage.  
_ "Wait ..... tell me at least your name." Yara said trying to catch him up at the exit. But once outside, no trace of the man, as if it had vanished like smoke in the air. Yara looked around, but hhe was gone. The young ironborn queen was still more confused after this strange meeting, but time having passed, decided to return to her ship to inform Queen Daenerys.  
*********  
Later, back on the ship, Yara told what had happened to Queen Daenerys and Lady Kinvara about this strange traveler. Sitting in a seat and having listened attentively to what her ally had just told her, Daenerys was at first reassured that Yara had not been hurt, or worse. Losing another of her allies would be too hard to bear after all those she had already lost. According to the words of the Iron Queen, the man was described as coming from a land named Yi Ti. Although she had never been there, Daenerys had heard stories about this country, the legendary Eastern Kingdom located beyond the Bones Mountains and bordered to the south by the Jade Sea, and who according to the many stories and rumors about it, was once home to one of the world's oldest and most powerful empires.  
_"Whoever this man is, I am grateful to him for having help you." Daenerys said with a smile "Whoever he is, I pray that the gods accompany him on his journey."  
Grey Worm arrived then in front of the women and standing upright, hands behind his back, bowed before his queen before speaking.  
_"Your grace, a man is standing in front of the boat. He is asking to meet you."  
Strange. She was not waiting for anyone here at Qarth. Who could it be? A bad feelinginvades Dany. Had the masters of the city been made aware of her presence? As Queen Targaryen was thinking, Yara came to the rail and spotted the man waiting patiently in front of the bridge and watched by two unsullied. The same traveler who had helped her.  
_"Majesty, it is he, the man I talk about." she warned immediately.  
_"So invite him to come up, I would like to personally thank him." Daenerys answered, reassured and smiling again. Grey Worm obeyed and signaled to the two guards to move to let the traveler pass. The latter, serene and silent, climbed the bridge and finally appeared at the sight of Daenerys who rose from her seat to go to meet him. He was indeed like Yara had described.  
Looking at the dragon queen, the man smiled amiably and withdrew his conical hat, bowed respectfully to her and the high priestess of Asshai standing by her side.  
_"It is a pleasure for me to meet the noble man who helped my friend. You have my gratitude." Daenerys said, motioning for him to get up.  
_ "All the pleasure is for me, your grace." humbly answered Yi Ti's man, straightening up and putting his hat back on his head "... I was looking forward to finally meeting the great breaker of chains."  
Daenerys thanked him with a nod to this compliment.  
_ "And can we know your name, my lord?" asked Queen Targaryen.  
_"Oh, I'm not a lord, my lady." replied the man with a humble little laugh "... I am only a traveler walking around the world and eager to help his neighbor when he can. My name is Shen-zoan "Windwalker".  
One of the most singular names she had to consider it, but found it quite beautiful and symbolic for a traveler.  
_"And what is a man from the ancient land of Yi Ti doing in the city of Qarth, if it is not indiscreet?" asked Daenerys more than curious. Shen smiled back at her with a clever eye.  
_"A few years ago, I was captured by pirates and sold as a slave to the city of Astapor, where I suffered and worked hard. Despite the beatings and chastisements inflicted by the masters, my soul never gave in. I can not say exactly how many men, women, and child slaves I saw die without being able to do anything. Then one day a young, silver-haired foreign woman arrived, and with her, three young dragons. By a clever stratagem, she bought the unsullied soldiers, had got the masters killed, and freed the slaves, of which I was a part.  
Having been seriously wounded on the eve of this, following a punishment too much inflicted by my master, I was then taken in charge by other slaves, now freed, who took care of me. Once recovered, I was able to leave Astapor, and swore to continue my journey, waiting for the day when I could finally meet the woman who had allowed me to regain my freedom, and to say her: thank you."  
Daenerys listened to his story and was touched in her heart. She saw it in his eyes, felt it in the tone of his voice, the sincerity he showed. She could not have forgotten that day when she was able to make her first blow against the slave empire of Essos. This testimony of gratitude was beneficial for the young woman. She wanted to become again the woman that this man described, for the good of all. A breaker of chains.  
Shen-zoan then dropped to one knee, his staff in front of him, and lowered his head slightly to the ground.  
_"I humbly ask the Queen breaker of chains to accompany her on her journey. I swear to serve you until my my last breath or when you'll decide to have enough of my services."  
Touched by this demand, Daenerys first turned to her close allies and advisers, Yara, Lady Kinvara and Grey Worm, all of whom seemed to show the same look of acceptance. Grey Worm, as a former slave, could understand Shen's point of view and his desire to serve the one who had freed him from his chains. Yara saw no problem welcoming the man who had helped her. And although Kinvara was the least concerned about Shen's story, she did not hesitate to accept, like if she had known from the beginning that this meeting would take place. Perhaps through another vision in the flames of the red god .... With the support of her friends, Daenerys delivered her verdict.  
_ "Shen-zoan "Windwalker", I, Daenerys stormborn of House Targaryen, breaker of chains and mother of dragons, welcome you by my side. I swear, from now on and before the gods, that you will have always a place at my table and in my house. I swear it by the old gods and the new."  
On these official words, and although not practicing the faith of old and new gods, Shen looked up, without saying a word, but the proud smile he showed was more expressive than any thanks. It was with a smile that Daenerys welcomed the newcomer to her ranks, just like Yara.  
_ "Shen ..." said Daenerys, however, "... Although I am glad I was able to give you back your freedom, you could have lived as you please. Why do you want to fight with me, in the risk to die?"  
Although personally touched by the woman's words about him, Shen showed no concern for himself and contented with a most eloquent response:  
_ "Some fight to protect their family, their home ... others to preserve the harmony .... But the real question, the one that my master asked me one day, is: what is worth fighting for? ... For a long time I have been looking for the answer to this question .... and today, I have it, in front of me."


	6. Part 6

Westeros, Winterfell

Although summer had fallen, temperatures in the independent kingdom of north had remained rather low, although the snow had disappeared to give way to the green heaths and coniferous forests rocked by the wind.  
In Winterfell, capital of the northern kingdom, life had resumed and gradually recovered from the terrible battle that had taken place against the Night King and his army of the dead, now a threat from the past. In the courtyard of the castle, servants and other occupants were engaged in their daily tasks, while patrol guards proceeded to their usual rounds.  
Standing in front of the big fireplace in her personal office, the young queen in the north, Sansa Stark, dressed in her big black dress and her warmly fur-covered shoulders, was pacing, circling, her hands behind her back, and seemed to be waiting, looking moribund. On her desk, among the many documents, was a letter whose seal, that of the hand of the king, had been broken. Sansa had read the letter sent recently by Tyrion Lannister, and what she had read there had more than disconcerted her.  
Daenerys Targaryen is .... alive? Just thinking about it made her shudder again. Just the idea that she can return to Winterfell on the back of her dragon to seek revenge. Despite having archers, Sansa did not know if all of Winterfell's garrison, no matter how large, would be sufficient in the face of the devastating anger of an adult dragon who had proven himself capable of destroying an entire fleet of war ships and ravaged half of King's Landing. Sansa did not know what her brother Bran was going to do about it, but knowing that her kingdom no longer depended on the king's orders, she decided to do something for her. She would not take the risk of seeing Winterfell and the north be burned to the ground if she could stop it before it happen.  
Returning to her desk, Sansa took her pen, dipped it in ink and began writing a missive. She had heard from her sister Arya about the existence of this sect of dreadful assassins at Braavos.  
*********   
Essos, approaching Asshai

The end of the journey was approaching for the ironborn ship which had been flying on the sea for almost a month now from Volantis. Already, the first signs of Asshai's approach were noticeable. The waters, usually of a natural blue, had gradually faded to become dark, gray and opaque. Glancing over the rail, Yara shivered. She, who had participated in many expeditions at sea, showed for the first time a little doubtful. Sometimes she could see weird fishes, phosphorescent, appearing and disappearing like ghosts under the surface. She dared not imagine what kinds of creatures could haunt these waters. A thicker mist had risen, snaking over the surface of the water like snakes of smoke. In order to avoid any risk, Yara had reduced the wing, the ship now slipping more slowly in these sinister waters of the end of the world. On the deck, the ironborn sailors had lost their proud and harsh airs, and could not prevent the doubt from expressing themselves on their faces, although the unsullied and the soldiers of the Fiery hand remain strangely calm despite the macabre atmosphere. Among the most superstitious sailors, some came to dread that the ship would reach the end of the world and fall into the great void. Others were convinced that these black, silent waters would eventually lead them into the other world. An ironborn, scared to death, swore on his head that he had heard a disembodied woman's voice whispering his name from the depths of the mist, and even felt an icy breath on his neck. The poor fellow, yet a strong fellow, was found hidden in the bottom of the hold, curled up and shaking like a scared little girl.  
Daenerys had been forced to stay in her cabin for a good part of the day. For several days now, she had felt more and more tired, despite the nights of rest she was able to take, and also felt, more and more regularly, some sharp pains in her stomach. She could hardly eat, but had to force herself anyway not to lose her strength. Navigating in these haunted waters did not help her much, she too, sometimes having the impression of hearing whispers calling her and hearing something like nails scratching behind the window of her cabin, whose window was now completely fogged.  
Two nights before, Daenerys had woken up in the middle of the night, screaming in terror so loudly that she had woken up the entire crew, and had been found by Yara and Grey Worm, trembling, tears in her eyes and sweat in her bed. Daenerys had explained to them that she had been awakened by a strange noise in her cabin, and as she opened her eyes, she had seen Jon Snow, standing at the foot of the bed, staring at her with a furious gaze. He had jumped on her, taking a dagger at his belt, blocking her on the bed by grabbing her to the throat and trying to stab her in the stomach, vociferating with a degenerate voice.  
_ "You should be dead! DEAD, YOU HEAR ME?!"  
_ "NOOOO JON, STOP! LEAVE ME!!"  
His voice was his own, but monstrous, and blood began to flow from his eyes, as Dany described, still in shock. She had screamed, struggled with all her strength, but after opening her eyes, Jon had disappeared without leaving any traces. Kinvara explained to Daenerys that the waters surrounding Asshai were filled with the most ancient and obscure magic, and that these forces haunting it take pleasure in tormenting sailors and adventurers daring to venture there, guessing and giving life to their the deepest fear into more than realistic illusions. As a result, Daenerys slept only during the day, and at night remained awake and in the company of a soldier from the Fiery Hand appointed by the priestess to watch over her. Although they are not talkative, she felt reassured to not be alone in her cabin.  
Face digged by fatigue, Daenerys was lying in bed in her white silk night dress. Kinvara was with her, the priestess sitting beside her on the bed, and examining her to make sure everything was all right. For Kinvara, there was no sign of illness or poisoning of any kind by food or water. Kinvara thought for a moment, turning her attention to Daenerys' aching belly. And if .... a hypothesis crossed her mind and she wanted to check. Delicately placing the palm of her hand on Daenerys's belly, Kinvara seemed to be examining more. Daenerys watched her, quite concerned. After long minutes, Kinvara changed her attitude, her shining irises showing a truth that had just appeared to her, and which seemed to satisfy her.  
_"Lady Kinvara, what's going on?" Daenerys asked her emphatically.  
_ "Daenerys stomrborn ...... you are pregnant." the priestess of R'hllor then revealed to her in all honesty. This news fell on the young woman like a flash, making her heart leap in her chest.  
_ "What ... how .... you .... are you sure and certain?" Daenerys really insisted on this, looking at her belly in turn and feeling it delicately. The priestess was formal and nodded. The young Targaryen was pregnant. Daenerys was more than confused.  
_ "But ... it's impossible ..." she said with conviction "... I could no longer have children, at least not be able to give birth, because of this witch ..... "and suddenly she froze, remembering to have shared her bed with a particular man, the one who before her, was brought back from the dead by the magic of R'hllor: Jon Snow, the man who had killed her. "... Jon ..." she sighed painfully, a tear pouring down one of her cheeks. "... But .... he killed me .... how can I still be pregnant?"  
The young fallen queen could not understand anything, but Kinvara made it her duty to explain her, taking her hands in hers.  
_ "This is the great power that our master has ..." explains the priestess "... his purifying fire not only brought you back, Daenerys stormborn, but also saved the life of this young soul who grows up inside your belly, for such is his will. Rejoice, your grace, that the Lord of light has given you such a miracle. A child born from the union of ice and fire."  
Ice and fire ..... Did she mention Jon and Daenerys through this symbolic definition? Was it true? After all, Jon had been brought back by the red god too. Jon, through this resurrection, had he been granted by the god the power to free Daenerys from her curse by unite to her? But in that case, why did Jon killed her? Was it also the plan of the red god? Once again, everything was very confusing.  
She wanted to rejoice, of course, she who for years had thought herself condemned to remain last and see her dynasty disappear with her. But on the other hand, the idea of carrying this child, Jon's, plunged her into a terrible melancholy, and made her relive for a few moments that awful illusion of Jon leaning over her and trying to kill her. How could she look this child in the eyes without thinking of Jon and what he had done to her? No, she dismissed this idea from her mind. It was out of the question for her to judge her future child for the crime committed by his father towards her. She would no longer act like that, she had sworn.  
********  
Elsewhere on the ship, Shen-zoan had isolated himself in the small corner of the hold that had chosen him to settle during the journey. Although he was offered a more comfortable place to sleep, a simple hanging hammock suited him perfectly. As he had said, after sleeping at the bottom of a well and in a wet cave in the middle of winter, this hammock was for him like the room of a palace.  
The Yi Ti traveler did not sleep, however. Sitting on the floor of the ship, he was leaning over a wooden box that served as a temporary table, on which he had placed a large sheet of parchment and lit with only a single candle placed beside him. Yara, after reassuring her sailors, had come down to the hold to check that everything was going well and made her way to Shen. Looking over his shoulder without saying a word, she could see the strange letters he had been writing in black ink for a while, like symbols she had never seen before. Shen looked over his shoulder and smiled at him.  
_"What is it?" she asked, rather intrigued.  
_ "Oh, that .... it's a poem from my country, in my native language .... I like to write .... it helps me to never forget where I come from." was his answer, shrouded in a touch of nostalgia in his voice. Yara sat next to him, reading the symbols one by one even though she did not understand any of them. The fine line of the pen and the perfectly asymmetrical forms of the letters were almost like art. How was he managed to write with this precision despite the slight pitching of the ship? Shen did not stop surprising. Just yesterday, during the meal, Yara and the others could see him eating with small wooden sticks, which caused the hilarity of some sailors a little morons. Despite such mockery, however, Shen remained very calm, not offended, and simply continued his meal. Daenerys did not really appreciated the mockery about the newcomer and asked Yara to seriously reprimand the men, which she did. In this new free world that would become Essos by her will, Daenerys would also advocate freedom and tolerance of cultures.  
As he continued to write with that delicacy and astounding precision, Yara stared at Shen's fighting stick for a moment.  
_ "Your way of fighting ..... how do you do it? Who taught you?" she asked. She then perceived, in Shen's expression, that she had touched a new chord of his past, but yet made him smile. Placing his pen, he decided to tell Yara some of his past.  
_"All my knowledge, I owe it to my master, Dzian-owan. When he was a child, Master Dzian was puny, shy, constantly persecuted by other children. He was the son of a former soldier, a very hard man, who kept on telling him that the weak had no place in this world. But Dzian refused to brandish a weapon, the idea was repugnant to him, so he decided to create his own way of fighting. At the age of 15, following the death of his father and now alone, Dzian exiled himself to the lands of the north, beyond the plains of Jogos Nhai, where he lived as an hermit. During all these years, Master Dzian developed his new art of combat, the art of fighting without giving death, spending days and nights, training in all weathers. In the wind, the rain, the snow of winter and the overwhelming heat of summer...He added to his art of combat the meditation, and he managed to do so, after spending ten days and ten nights meditating under an old willow, to the perfect union of the mastery of his art, unifying combat and concentration in one and same body, one and same soul.  
Then one day, while he was looking for wild grasses, he found me in a wicker basket on the edge of a river. I was still a baby, abandoned by my parents and delivered to the wilderness. Having pity, he gathered me and raised me as his own son. When I was old enough to understand, he taught me his art, imposing on me the same conditions, the same trials and the same suffering that he himself had to endure in order to form himself to face this world. He always told me: The characteristic of the warrior is humility. He must think as much about others as about himself. There are strong and weak people in this world, Shen, and it is the duty of the weakest to become stronger, to prove to them this: if you can, they can too. I swore to my master to perpetrate his art wherever I go, and to become an example to the poor.  
Shortly after, my venerable master died without suffering, in his sleep, carried away by his old age. After having buried him with dignity at the foot of the ancient willow, where he had spent most of his life, I began my journey around the world ..... "  
Yara had remained silent, having listened to everything in this story. She noticed Shen's wet eye as he recounted, reliving through his words what were the best memories of his life. Abandoned from birth, raised by a stranger who trained him to become a good person. Yara was rather touched by this story and patted the man's shoulder.  
_"Your master seemed to be a very good man, Shen-zoan, and a great warrior too. I would have love to know him." Yara said frankly.  
_ "He would appreciate you, I think." Shen replied, "he has always admired women with a strong character, just like you."  
Yara felt rather flattered by the compliment and both together shared a small laugh. However, Yara's face darkened, looking pensive, and Shen noticed it.  
_ "Something is disturbing you."  
_ "It's about Queen Daenerys ..." Yara said without keeping a secret for her new friend "... according to Lady Kinvara, she would be pregnant."  
_"Well, I do not see how that would be bad news." Shen answered without really knowing why she was showing that worried look.  
_ "I know ..." she said "... that's not the problem. I'm just worried about her and the baby. When those who killed her will learn that she's alive, I don't think that the life of a mere baby to be born will stop them in their attempt to eliminate her again.They will not take the risk of seeing her return to Westeros with her dragon and a new army to get revenge."  
Shen-zoan fully understood what Yara meant and reassured her by patting her on the back of her hand.  
_"We will do what it takes to protect her, because that is the oath we have spoken."  
_ "PORT OF ASSHAI RIGHT BEFORE!!" suddenly shouted the voice of a ironborn sailor from the deck of the ship. Alerted, Yara, followed by Shen, went back up. Daenerys, also warned by voice, came out of her cabin with Lady Kinvara, covering her shoulders with a purple silk shawl. Grey Worm has advanced to the bow to see the facts. In the misty sky, Drogon's roaring figure appeared, sliding between the clouds like a giant ghost.  
In front of the ship reducing her sail a little more, the opaque mists of a dark gray dissipated more and more, revealing to the eyes of all in the permanent twilight of these accursed waters and in the light of the full moon, the forms recognizable of fuzzy towers and other strange buildings, all built of black stone. Daenerys swallowed, but remained upright, her head high, while in front of her, came from the fog the legendary and mysterious city from the deep of the world, Asshai, emerging little by little from the mist like the monster coming from a horror tale. Faced with this vision seeming straight out of a nightmare, the sailors remained speechless, eyes round, and some even began to pray the drowned god to protect them.  
_ "Welcome to Asshai, Daenerys stormborn." proclaimed Lady Kinvara to the young dragon queen.  
Finally. She was there, supported by her allies and her son, ready to face the new tests of the red god.


	7. Part 7

The ironborn ship had finally reached the mysterious city of Asshai and anchored on a deserted dock, where dozens of crates of abandoned merchandise and some abandoned fishing nets were dragging. Having dressed in her ebony dress and black cloak, Daenerys, accompanied by Kinvara and two soldiers from the Fiery Hand, descended from the footbridge and stepped on the crackling wood of the dock. Finally, on the mainland, she said to herself breathing a great blow, after almost a whole month at sea. Yara then went down, also escorted by two ironborn warriors, and also accompanied by Shen-zoan who volunteered to accompany them. Grey Worm and the remaining of the crew were appointed to guard the ship during the group's absence, who would come back for them tomorrow morning for the start of the inland expedition. Indeed, being too late to leave, Daenerys had decided that they would spend the night in Asshai. The young queen was still too tired to take a long walk, and had to sleep a little. Kinvara made no objection, and guiding Daenerys, offered to show her a safe place she apparently knew and where they could spend the night.  
Far too big to be able to follow his mother in the streets of Asshai, Drogon was forced to stay on the docks, bigger. The dragon gave a worried, almost childish growl when Daenerys came to him, caressing his muzzle with love and kissing him on the nose. She saw that Drogon was concerned, that he did not like at all the heavy and macabre atmosphere of this city.  
_ "I'll be back tomorrow, my sweet boy, don't worry. I'm in good hands." she said with all the affection she could have for her last son. Drogon moaned again, seeing her leave with the others, but had to resign himself to obey. Drogon looked around him, growling suspiciously against the shadows he thought he saw moving in the recesses of some dark alleyways. Shen-zoan, while walking, came alongside Daenerys.  
_ "Your relationship with this dragon is very surprising, my queen." he commented without passing this for a reproach, quite the contrary.  
_"Drogon is more than a friend, dear Shen ..." she replied, "he is my son, born from the fire, just like me."  
The traveler was interested in the story, and looked for something in his bag. Something he found and handed to the dragon queen, as a gift. A parchment, on which was drawn in black ink, a very detailed and beautiful portrait of Drogon, in a posture of majestic flight. Daenerys was impressed by the sense of detail and the elegance of the drawing, as if it were almost moving in front of her eyes.  
_ "It's .... it's beautiful." she said, thanking her new friend for this gift, compliment he received with a humble bow.  
_ "The beauty and majesty of certain things are such that they deserve to be immortalized forever ... Who knows ..... would you ever want me to make a portrait of you, one day, majesty?" he asked very modestly. Daenerys smiled, a little embarrassed, and blushed slightly after what seemed like a compliment to Drogon but also to her, keeping the drawing close to her. Shen suddenly looked a little embarrassed too, seeing her blush.  
_"Forgive me if my remark causes you embarrassment, my queen, I assure you that my attention was not ..." he apologized, but was interrupted by the thin hand of Daenerys coming gently take his.  
_ "I would be honored ..... thank you, my friend." was the answer of the young woman, to the great pleasure of Shen who was reassured.  
The queen and her escort left the wharves to finally enter the first street of Asshai, between two large black houses with closed shutters. Draped from her red coat with the hood on her head, Kinvara walked in the lead. Behind her, Daenerys, escorted on either side by the two warriors of the Fiery Hand. Behind, closing the march, Yara Greyjoy, her two ironborn guards and Shen-zoan. While walking, Daenerys could finally contemplate with her eyes the city of shadows.  
The immensity of this city was disconcerting. It was much larger than King's Landing. But despite its size, it seemed almost abandoned, few houses being lit, and the light of the few torches seemed to be absorbed in the darkness of the night. All the buildings were built with black stone, with a disturbing and greasy appearance. The mist had invaded the streets and alleys and snaked on the ground, forming a disturbing carpet of smoke. The architecture of the city was very strange. Palaces built next to brothels and other shabby establishments, and also many temples and other places of worship more or less frequented. According to legend, in Asshai, all religions and cults are allowed, such as the obscure and poorly known cults of the Black Goat and the Lion of Night, or a religion better known as that of the god R'hllor. All kinds of entities were venerated here, such as the moonsingers, the necromancers, the pyromancers, the bloodmages, or the most dreaded of all, the shadowbinders, who were said to be capable of giving birth to demons made up of shadows during very special rituals.  
The group met a few people, all of whom were hiding under the porches of the houses or in the recesses of the aisles, waiting in silence and watching the group go by without saying a word. Daenerys could see that the inhabitants were all very dressed, hiding the smallest part of their bodies, and were all veiled, wearing masks or hoods. Daenerys could almost feel their eyes on her, and did everything to try to ignore them and kept going, although they did nothing to try to harm her. It was almost as if they were waiting for her coming. Was that the case?  
Daenerys' group passed by the entrance of what looked like a temple. Daenerys take a fast look as she passed, she saw, with horror, a crowd of worshipers, chanting incomprehensible words and venerating an idol in the shape of a humanoid goat. One of the worshipers, the leader of the ritual, had covered himself from head to foot with blood, and seemed to be in a trance, convulsing while waving his arms. Yara swallowed when she saw that, just like Shen, and both continued without stopping. Everywhere, they seemed to hear like ritual songs and other incantations coming from the interior of the houses, all in languages as varied as strange. What could be happening in this city?  
_ "What is this city of demons?" Yara sighed, notch, just like her two guards. Shen remained calm, but showed his distrust of what was happening here. Kinvara remained calm as usual, and stopped in front of a building in the center of a small deserted square. The sticky sign hanging over the entrance seemed to indicate a bazaar.  
_"Here we are." said Kinvara, who without hesitation, pushed the door to enter the first, and inviting the others to follow her inside, which they did, after a few seconds of hesitation.  
A smell of spices, but also a mixture of incense and other medicinal products came to rub their nostrils as soon as they entered. The place was of average size, but full of objects of all kinds. Small dead animals hung on the ceiling. Pots containing various medicinal products or for any other purpose. Many objects made of bone, wood and other natural elements apparently used for ritual purposes, and even sinister dolls. A little monkey, with red eyes, walked freely between the shelves, emitting curious little sounds against the visitors.  
Kinvara led the rest of the group to the bottom of the bazaar, where behind a counter, was a person bent to examine the inside of a dead black rat's corpse and extract its vital organs. The woman behind the counter looked up, and smiled at Kinvara, seeming to know her.  
_"My dear Lady Kinvara .... finally we meet again after such a long time ..." said the woman from the bazaar in a honeyed and deep voice with an almost seductive tone. She had pale skin, but looked as if she was wearing makeup all over her body and was tattooed on almost the entire face. Long dreadlocks fell on her shoulders, and she was dressed in a strange dress made of animal leather and wore around her neck a pendant made of skulls of sparrows. Her smiling gray lips revealed behind a teething as white as her face. Kinvara greeted her with a nod.  
_"I greet you, Heliora. I bring you some visitors to spend the night, and they will leave tomorrow morning with me."  
The strange young woman named Heliora listened, then her gaze was drawn behind Kinvara's shoulder towards Daenerys, who was looking around with an edge of suspicion. Heliora's face seemed to clear, as if she had seen a messiah appear before her.  
_"You ..." she whispered between her lips as she walked towards Daenerys, who remained frozen in front of the woman staring at her. Yara wanted to intervene, but Shen held her back, making her understand by the look that it was better not to interfere with the people of Asshai. Heliora, with her blackened-fingered hands, felt a little the face of the young dragon queen, examining her from head to foot. Kinvara let her do, knowing her merchant friend well.  
_ "You, so young, but already having suffered so many trials, beyond the very veil of life and death .... You, who have long been lost in a quest doomed to failure, but destined for something so much bigger ..... Daenerys of house Targaryen."  
Heliora spoke very slowly, mystically, every word seemed to materialize out of her mouth. Daenerys could almost feel her blood-red-iris eyes piercing her mind, as if reading inside her.  
_ "Y .... do you know me?" Daenerys said a little confused. Heliora smiled at her, with the same seductive air as towards Kinvara. Obviously, she preferred women to men. She also glanced at Yara, whose young ironborn queen did not seem to be indifferent and smiled her back.  
_ "The reputation of the breaker of chains and mother of dragons has reached the ears of Asshai. Everyone here knows who you are, even those who have no ears to hear or eyes to see." confirmed Heliora returning to Daenerys. Heliora, whoever or whatever she was, gave her goose bumps.  
_"Your friends can stay for the night, Kinvara, but you know you have to pay." Heliora announced, returning to her counter, while giving a small caress to her monkey who come join her.  
_"Of course." Kinvara kindly replied, telling one of her Fiery Hand soldiers to come forward, to give her something wrapped in a rag, which she put under the merchant's eyes. The latter removed the rag, revealing a special dagger. Daenerys gasped as she sees the weapon. It was the dagger with which Jon had killed her. Kinvara had kept it after extracting it. Daenerys felt bad and had to turn away from the sight of the weapon, backed by Yara and Shen. Heliora could not contain her joy at possessing this dagger now, the very one whose blade had been impregnated with the blood of the dragon.  
_ "Your payment is honest, my dear Kinvara." Heliora told her, confiding the object to his monkey, who went to hide it somewhere in the shop, out of sight. "You are welcome in my humble abode, my good lords ..... tonight you can sleep .... But beware, young dragon queen, because at every moment the night is dark and full of terrors." warned the merchant in a silly little sneer. Uncomfortable, Daenerys chosen to move and guided by Kinvara, goes to the room where she can sleep, while Heliora focuses again on her dead rat on the counter, tearing the heart with forceps.  
********  
A little later in the night, Daenerys, despite the gloomy atmosphere of this bazaar, had managed to fall asleep in a room at the back of the shop. The two soldiers of the Fiery Hand, by order of the priestess, would remain all night as sentinels in front of the door of the room. The two ironborn sailors had gone to sleep in the bazaar reserve too. Kinvara, who was not sleepy, had settled into a kind of living room, and was patient, sitting watching the flames dancing gently in the hearth. She was not alone because Shen was there too, sitting with his eyes closed, meditating. Also unable to sleep, Yara had gone outside, under the porch of the shop. Her water bottle in hand, the ironborn queen was nervous and alert, listening to each sound that was heard in the surrounding streets and looking constantly looking for any suspicious movement. The mist, however, did not help to see the area around the store.  
_ "Nervous?" suddenly said Heliora, who like a ghost, had arrived behind Yara, who jumped in surprise and sighed with annoyance.  
_"You should be careful, I could have put my ax in your head without wanting it." Yara warns, taking a sip. Undaunted, Heliora continues to smile and comes closer slowly but surely to Yara, who noticed it well.  
_"Oh, but I don't doubt it, a proud warrior like you," commented Heliora, her eye sparkling with a certain lust. Yara guessed it, and she liked it. Their faces are closer to each other.  
_ "You know ...." Yara sighed as she came to touch one of the dreadlocks with her fingers and pushed it away from the merchant's handsome face "... you're the most weird and crooked woman I've ever met in my fucking life, but I like this."  
Heliora did not wait anymore, coming to snuggle against Yara's chest, blocking her against the wall, their mouths meeting in a kiss more and more sensual. Without interrupting the kiss, Heliora rubbed her hand along Yara's body, then her thigh to finally come and touch the crotch, which made Yara smile naughty.  
_ "You're interested by what's in store from what I see, it's good, we're open all night." Yara quipped, eager to go further, as did Heliora. Having never done this with a woman in armor, it excited her even more. Both decided to go back inside, Heliora knowing a room where they would be quiet to continue without risking to wake the others.  
Meanwhile, in the room at the back of the shop dipped in the dark, Daenerys was lying in a single bed, but nevertheless clean and comfortable to sleep peacefully. However, the queen, asleep, did not notice the furtive figure silently approaching the window of the room, looking out onto a deserted, misty street. The form, dressed entirely in black and wearing a hood, glanced quickly through the window, catching sight of the sleeping young queen in the middle of the room.  
Still in the greatest discretion, the masked individual began to cut the glass pane with a blade, managing to make a hole in the glass large enough to pass a hand. However, he did not try to open the window from inside, but passed something through the hole. A manticore, a deadly venom insect from Essos. The deadly insect began to crawl toward Daenerys' bed, and slowly began to climb the sheet to hoist itself to the top of the bed and come up to the young woman, who does not suspect anything.  
From the wharves, Drogon, who was sleeping, suddenly opened his eyes, filled with a sense of danger and fear for his mother. In the living room of the shop, Shen-zoan abruptly came out of his meditation with the same strange feeling and turned to Kinvara.  
_"Yes ... I saw it too ..." she confirmed. Without further ado, Shen grabbed his wooden stick, jumped up and as fast as he could, ran to the room where the queen was sleeping. Alerted by the commotion, Yara and Heliora, who did not have time to start their night together, came to see what was happening and saw Shen pass in front of them like an arrow.  
The manticore had crawled and was now standing very close to Daenerys's face, getting ready to sting her neck with his hooked dart filled with a more than poisonous poison. The door to the room suddenly opened and Shen burst into the room, and without further ado, with a nimble stick blow and without touching Daenerys, pushed away the poisonous insect that crashed against the wall. Daenerys straightened up, panting and awakened by the noise, to see Shen armed with his staff and looked around the room vigilantly, while Kinvara and the Fiery Hand soldiers came in their turn. Kinvara sat down beside Daenerys on the bed.  
_ "My queen, are you all right?" asked the priestess.  
_"I ... yes, I believe, but what's going on?" asked Daenerys, more than confused. Shen looked everywhere, and that's where he saw him. The dark silhouette behind the window, which was starting to flee. Without saying a word and under the dumbfounded gaze of Daenerys, Shen rushed and jumped quickly and agilely through the glass of the window, breaking it into pieces and landing on his feet in the street, in defensive posture. Without further ado, he set off in pursuit of the man dressed in black who was running away with extraordinary speed.  
Yara and Heliora arrived in the room, noticing the facts and the broken window. Yara came to make sure, asking Daenerys if she was okay. Kinvara leaned forward and gently picked up the crushed corpse of the poisonous insect to reveal it in plain sight. Daenerys felt her heart beat.  
_ "A manticore ..." she says. She had already seen one of these insects, which had also wanted to sting her once. A trap set by the warlocks of Qarth. Were they them again? Did they come to take revenge? Perhaps.  
A few minutes later, while everyone gathered in the living room with Daenerys, still under the shock of this assassination attempt and supported by Yara sitting next to her. Shen ends up coming back to the shop, empty-handed.  
_ "He was going too fast." he said, "I could not catch him and he seemed to know the streets of this city like his pocket, but he dropped that."  
Shen threw a small object, a sort of small piece of iron that Kinvara caught in the palm of her hand and examined closely. Her worst doubts seemed to come true. A very special coin, from Braavos.  
_ "Whom does it come from?" Yara asked. Kinvara looked at them one by one, hinting at the worst of all.  
_ "The Faceless Men." confirmed the priestess. Daenerys was only more shocked. Like many, she knew the terrifying reputation of those assassins and their mysterious powers. For Shen, it also confirmed something more disturbing than he shared with others.  
_ "The Faceless Men never act alone. Someone wants you dead, my queen."


	8. Part 8

Westeros, King's Landing

Bran was alone in his royal quarters. Sitting in a large marble bath, the water covering him to the waist, he had dismissed the servants, wishing to remain alone for the next hour.  
The young king, still with a flat and inexpressive calm, remained without saying a word to wash his arms, watching the drops flowing down his skin to fall back into the water. His gaze lingered for a moment on the mark of frostbite still visible from the Night King fingers on his wrist. Although the monster was killed, its mark had remained, like a scar that would never heal.  
Then he looked down at the water in front of him, to see his reflection on the flat surface. However, it was not his face that he saw, but that of the Night King, looking at him with his cold blue eyes. For a brief moment, Bran's iris tinged with a slight bluish and icy color, and the skin of his face saw slight frostbite running down his cheeks. Bran's mouth, like that of the reflection of the Night King, showed at the same moment a semblance of a smirk at the corner of the lips. Bran suddenly seemed to recover, his eyes and the skin of his face returning to normal, and resumed his toilet, as if nothing had happened.  
**********  
Essos, Asshai

Daenerys, dressed in her fine white silk dress, had been wandering for ages through black hills, stretching as far as the eye could see under a dark sky streaked with a purple hue. In the distance, black mountains stood high and menacing like giant teeth of chipped stone. Sensing the cold, wet rock beneath her bare feet, the young Queen Targaryen walked slowly without really knowing where she was going. Reaching the top of one of the hills, a new vision presented itself before her: the remains of what used to resemble a city, and of which there were now only huge silent ruins slowly gnawed by the weather and the elements. Daenerys advanced to what was once a large stone arch, half collapsed and covered with black roots, which bounded the entrance to the city. She noticed the two statues on each side of the arch. Measuring more than six meters tall, they had the shape of dragons, sitting and roaring, like eternal sentinels of stone continuing to watch over these places.  
Penetrating into the ruins, Daenerys dared not say a word, looking attentively all around her, while feeling deep inside her the heavy atmosphere that reigned here. She came to what was left of an immense temple of which there was almost nothing left, and noticed, in the center of this vestige, painted in the very stone of the ground, a great runic circle, and at its center, a dragon with spread wings, painted too. But something else caught the young woman's attention. At the center of this painted circle was a fire, with dancing scarlet flames and spreading a powerful heat. Daenerys froze with fear. All around her, from the dark of the ruins, shadows had advanced, all identical to each other and similar to the one that came to meet her in the cabin during her sleep. Entities with skull faces and shadows stood motionless, forming a semicircle around the fiery flame, their bottomless white eyes shining in the darkness and fixed on Daenerys.  
And she saw it, with astonishment ..... In the midst of the flames appeared a sword, with a medium-sized blade, gleaming and dotted with runes, with a black pommel encrusted with a ruby reflecting the glow of the flames. As if attracted by the beauty of the object, Daenerys wanted to advance a little closer, but the flames exploded in front of her, the infernal heat forcing her to step back several steps. She, who ordinarily did not fear fire, had been obliged this time to stay far away, to her astonishment.  
_"The fire can not kill the dragon ..." in unison shouted disembodied and frightening voices that seemed to come from the grouping of the motionless entities, tearing the young woman's eardrums, which was affected by the voices, the hands on her temples, fell on her knees in front of the flames, tense by an intolerable pain that rose suddenly from her belly. She heard again the cries of the baby dragons reverberating around her, but also the cries of another kind ... those of a human baby. In tears, Daenerys, on her knees in helplessness, was now encircled by the entities, staring at her their inhuman glances and pointing at her with their emaciated fingers.  
_"You are not a dragon ..... not a dragon ... not a dragon ... weak ..... weak ..." constantly repeated the creatures, like judges firing their sentence on one and same prisoner. The voices assailed the young woman from all sides, accentuating the pain in her.  
_"I am not weak!" she manages to say, straightening her head with defiance.  
_"Then prove it, or fall back into the limbo of death forever!" proclaimed one of the entities with authority. Daenerys felt weaker and weaker, seeing her vision slowly fuzzy, before sinking.  
********  
_ "My queen? My queen, wake up ...."  
Daenerys suddenly opened her eyes, to see Kinvara leaning over her, and shaking her gently by one shoulder. With sweat on forehead and panting, Daenerys sat up in bed to see that she was still in the small room in Heliora's bazaar. Although it was morning, outside, it seemed to be still dark. This was so in Asshai. Despite the assassination attempt she suffered last night, with too much fatigue, she managed to get back to sleep, not without being under the constant surveillance of Kinvara and the two warriors of the Fiery Hand, who, although having not slept, always remained vigorous.  
_ "It's time for us to get going." added the priestess of R'hllor, leaving Daenerys to get up and get dressed. Still marked by the nightmare that she had just made, Daenerys chose not to talk to the priestess, although she suspects that the latter was already aware judging by the look she had shown her.  
In another room, at the top of a small wooden staircase leading upstairs above the bazaar, Yara awoke in a bed, with Heliora at her side under the blanket, who had been awake for a while, but had watched Yara sleep. Knowing that Queen Daenerys was safe with R'hllor's followers, Yara had join Heliora in her room, but had not been able to fully enjoy that night, worried by the assassination attempt. Seeing her anxious, Heliora smiled, huddled against Yara and under the blanket, stroking the ironborn queen's naked breasts delicately with her hand, snatching her a nice little shiver and pulling her out of her thoughts.  
_ "The young dragon queen is strong, more than she can imagine herself ..... and I know you'll know how to protect her." Heliora said, while pecking Yara's neck with small kisses, what pleased to her.  
_ "I know ...." Yara replied with a hint of anger "... I was afraid it would happen. It looks like they are determined that Queen Daenerys remains dead. I knew they were stubborn, but not to this point."  
Heliora did not know who Yara could talk about, but it was obviously people she knew. Still sensing the merchant's pecks against her skin, Yara leaned over her, clasping her with one arm around her waist and the other in her neck. The two women kissed with sensuality, Yara then descending kissing the neck of Heliora, then her breasts, which she also massaged with one of his hands, tearing moans of pleasure to Heliora ....  
Hits behind the door interrupted the two women. Yara sighed, raising her head to look over her shoulder.  
_"Yara, are you awake?" Shen's voice came from behind the door. Although she wanted to tell her friend to come back later, Yara knew that Queen Daenerys would not have to wait. Heliora, although disappointed, seemed to accept it.  
_ "One minute, Shen, do not go in, I get dressed." Yara replied.  
_"Oh, all right. The others are waiting for us downstairs, do not be long too much." Shen answered, before his footsteps were heard, coming down the stairs. Yara, after a last torrid kiss to Heliora, got up from the bed and headed for her clothes and armor on a chair. Heliora stayed in bed, still admiring the thin but muscular body of the queen, with scars on her back and arms, memories of the battles she had experienced.  
Once dressed and saying goodbye to Heliora, Yara went down the stairs, where Shen was waiting for her, his staff resting on his shoulder.  
_"Believe me, I'm sorry I had to interrupt you with Heliora. You seem to like her very much." said the man of Yi Ti. At this sentence, Yara looked up at him, somewhat surprised and embarrassed. Shen gave a small laugh and reassured her immediately.  
_"Do not worry, I'm not judging you. My master has taught me to see well beyond appearances. Everyone is free to express his desires with whom he or she wishes, as long as it does not harm anyone."  
Shen's openness and wisdom would never cease to amaze Yara. If only more powerful men thought like him, this world could probably evolve and become better. She smiled as well, filing a strong but friendly tap on her friend's shoulder before following him outside the shop.  
Outside, they joined Daenerys and Kinvara who were waiting for them. Grey Worm had arrived too, with a group of unsullied soldiers who would accompany them in the expedition. Daenerys seemed to be looking for something in the sky, but could not find it, which seemed to worry her.  
_ "Where is Drogon?" the queen asked the commander of the unsullied, knowing that the latter was the last to have seen the dragon remained near the ship.  
_ "He left an hour ago, my queen ..." Grey Worm replied "He seemed upset by something, and he flew without waiting in the shadow lands."  
Daenerys's heart sank with fear. What could have caused Drogon to leave without her in these unknown lands? That worried her.  
_"We have to find him, let's go now." Daenerys ordered without further ado, starting to walk, followed by the rest of the group who took her part without hesitation. From the porch of the shop, Heliora watched the queen and her allies go north, towards the city's border, and the entrance to the shadow lands.  
**********  
The shadow lands bore their name very well. The weather was like frozen here. For almost three hours now, Daenerys and her allies had left the security of Asshai's ramparts and walked amidst great hills of black and damp rock in the midst of a sea of mist over the ground. No form of animal life was visible. No plant could grow here according to Kinvara, except a strange plant called the ghost grass, which Daenerys saw several groupings. She remembered hearing about this plant from Ser Jorah when she married Drogo. Plants with pale stems like curdled milk, shining in the night, and killing all the other plants around her. She also remembered this dothraki legend, who claim that someday this plant will completely cover the world, causing the extinction of any form of life. For Daenerys, it was strange to be here, knowing that Drogon was from this land, as were Viserion and Rhaegal.  
Other equally sordid and terrifying legends hovered over the shadow lands. Although no animals can live there, the caves that dot these abandoned hills and mountains are said to be inhabited by bloodthirsty dragons and infernal demons. One would also find the ruins of cities, so ancient that even the inhabitants of Asshai can not say by whom they were built. But the inhabitants of Asshai avoid exploring these ruins, claiming that they are cursed or inhabited by ghosts and other malevolent entities waiting only to leap upon reckless prey. All these legends worried Dany, especially for Drogon. Watching the sky to hope to see him, or listening to hear his roar, the dragon still had not returned. She prayed that nothing had happened to him.   
Daenerys was not the only one to feel the macabre air that reigned here. Yara, her two ironborn guards, Shen, Gray Worm and the unsullied, even Kinvara and her two Fiery Hand soldiers were a little affected, but still continued to walk, drawing their strength and faith in their god to guide them.   
_ "AAAAH, something touched me!" suddenly yelled one of the two ironborn soldiers, panicked, which took everyone by surprise. Yara immediately grabs her guard by the collar.  
_ "Stop agitating yourself and shut your mouth!" she ordered.  
_"But, my queen, I swear, I felt a cold, clawed hand resting on my shoulder, I turned around, and there was nothing, and ...." he was interrupted by the violent slap Yara gave him a face, silencing him.  
_ "Do it again, and I'll stun you and leave you here, understand?" Yara warned, which the sailor fully understood and obeyed with a nod.  
As a result, Kinvara and Daenerys both halted at the top of one of the hills, and stared at something. In front of them, a little further on, was a little black mountain, whose very peculiar shape, snatched a shiver from the dragon queen. The skull-shaped mountain, whose mist seemed to escape through the cavities.  
_"It's here," Daenerys sighed, unable to look away from the mountain. "... it is in this mountain that I heard the baby dragons ...."  
_ "Yes, my queen ....." confirmed Kinvara smiling at her and supporting her by the hand "... it is here and today that your true destiny begins."  
Although the appearance of this mountain was not reassuring, the group approached, noting that the only possible entrance was through the gaping jaw. The guards redoubled their vigilance, watching over the queen and the priestess who entered the first under the stone teeth. A despicable scent of death stank the air, forcing the members of the group to put their hands in front of their mouths and noses.  
_"Yara. Grey Worm. You and your men, stay there and keep the entrance." Daenerys ordered, not wanting the whole group to enter, in case to be trapped in an ambush.  
_ "As you wish, but please don't be too long, this place gives me goose bumps." Yara answered, hands on her weapons. Daenerys understood well. She, Kinvara and her two guards, and Shen-zoan with them, descended along the somewhat steep rocky slope that descended into the depths of this giant stone skull. The walls were covered with sticky moldiness, causing a grimace of disgust on the face of the queen. The darkness being very important, and by an order of Kinvara in High Valyrian, the two soldiers of the Fiery Hand used of their power to ignite the blades of their spears, allowing to move without risk.  
The further she went in this cavern, the more Daenerys felt it in her heart and in her blood. The two baby dragons were nearby. And they finally arriving at the end of this slope, leading to the mouth of a wider space, she saw them. Half buried in the black earth, two eggs of dragons, changed into stone by the centuries, stood there. Daenerys, unable to prevent a smile from drawing on her lips, knelt and took one of the eggs in her hands, immediately feeling its heat through the stone, and can almost hear the call of the baby dragon, as she had once heard the call of her three children before they were born. The egg she held with a shade of a metallic blue, and the other egg had traces of beige and light brown. Daenerys could not realize it. They were there, finally, in her hands.  
_ "Let's get out of here now, my queen, better not linger here." suggested Kinvara. Daenerys listened. She was right. Opening the bag attached to her waist that she had brought with her, Daenerys put the first egg, then the second, all with extreme caution.  
_ "Let's move." said Daenerys once that did. The group prepared to climb the slope, but was frozen on the spot by the sound of a howl of a man at the entrance of the cave. The heart of Daenerys leaped.  
_ "Yara! Grey Worm!" she gasped. They quickly rushed to the entrance of the cave and out, to find Yara, Grey Worm and their men alive, but all in a fighting position, weapons in hand and frantically looking around for the mist. One of the two ironborn sailors had disappeared. Seeing this, Shen prepared his staff, invaded by a bad feeling.  
_"Yara, what's going on? Where is your guard?" Daenerys asked.  
_"I don't know! He was there two more minutes ago. Something came up and took him in the mist. It was too fast, we didn't had time to see what it was!" Yara replied, showing the dragon queen an expression of intense stress. She was afraid. Something took him? Daenerys shivered with terror, looking at the mist too. What kind of thing here could be big enough and strong enough to carry a grown man without leaving a trace?  
The group had taken a stand in front of the entrance to the cavern and made the utmost silence. Footsteps, numerous and stealthy were heard close enough, galloping in the mist, but without the group can see what it was, accentuating their fear.  
Suddenly, something came out of the fog and rolled to Yara's feet, horrified. It was the head of her guard! Bloody, his eyes torn out, he had been torn in the throat, not by a blade, but rather by fangs judging by the marks left on the flesh.  
_ "Seven hells!" Yara gasped, taking a step back. The whole group then saw them. Flying out of the mist some twenty yards ahead of them, creatures with an abominable appearance appeared, moving on all fours like animals. They had a human size and appearance, but with arched backs, translucent and pale skin, rachitic bodies, lean arms and legs, and hands armed with claws. Their heads were bald, their ears slightly twisted at the extremities, eyes without pupils, and filthy jaws filled with conical teeth. One of the creatures bore traces of fresh blood on the mouth and hands. Their rumblings and cries were strident, atrocious to hear, like rales of endless agony. The sight of these creatures plunged the group into horror, and retreated a few steps.  
_ "Oh gods ..... what is it?" said Daenerys, frightened.  
_"Ghouls ......" answered Kinvara, strangely calm and focused. Although surprised by the appearance of the creatures, Shen managed to remain calm, twirling his staff in agile movements, and taking a stand alongside Grey Worm, preparing his spear and his shield, and Yara holding her ax and her sword. The two soldiers of the Fiery Hand, following an order from their priestess, ignited their spears again, blocking to protect their mistress. Daenerys, not being armed, Kinvara stood before her as an ultimate defense.  
_ "Stay behind me, majesty, and above all, don't go away." said the priestess as an order. Daenerys listened without hesitation.  
The first ghoul jumped to the attack, to be immediately impaled by the spear of Grey Worm, who killed it on the spot. Stinking black blood spurted from the creature that fell to the ground, lifeless. The other creatures attacked these resistant prey. Seeing them coming on them, Yara pushed a war-scream and gave a violent blow of the ax, puncturing the skull of a ghoul in two and receiving a few drops of his disgusting blood on her face. Shen-zoan had advanced further without fear. With his swirling big stick movements, he almost make the fog dancing around him and used it to blind the ghouls coming on him by sending the smoke back on them. Once he had blinded them, he hit them, one by one, at the nape of the neck, to neutralize them.  
One of the unsullied was caught by surprise, thrown to the ground by two ghouls who dragged him and disappeared with him in the meanders, without Grey Worm can intervene to save him and saw his brother in arms carried away before his eyes. A second unsullied was also killed, receiving a violent claws blow that lacerated his throat to the bone, spilling blood. Feeling helpless, Daenerys remained there to see her friends and allies fight and die protecting her. Knowing she could not do anything made her sick. Drogon, where are you, she thought?  
Yara and Shen acted as duets, Yi Ti's man taking care of hitting and straying the attacking creatures on the right, and Yara killing the ones coming from the left. Yara heard a scream and saw her second ironborn guard, caught on all sides by ghouls, who began to devour him alive, the screams of the man mingling with the tearing of the flesh and the abundant gashes of blood, a ghoul pulling an arm violently to start devouring it eagerly. Yara wanted to intervene, but Shen held her to stay close to him.  
_ "We can not do anything for him anymore!"  
Two ghouls managed to pass the unsullied, but the two soldiers of the Fiery Hand stopped them, piercing them and burning them alive with their flaming spears. Kinvara did not sit idly by, and also drew on the power granted by her god. Putting a hand on the ground, she mumbled a few words in Valyrian, her eyes catching fire. Flames leaped from the ground as if by magic, swallowing swarms of ghouls in approach and reducing them to ashes. Daenerys was more than admirable. Yara too, seeing that. But despite the resistance of the group, the creatures continued to arrive, more and more numerous.  
Suddenly, the earth was shaken by a violent tremor that made the hills and mountains roar. The ghouls stopped in their attack, and shrieking in fear, fled in all directions, under the eyes of the group, also surprised. Suddenly, what appeared before like a rocky hill began to move and rise slowly, raising clouds of dust. Two huge dark wings unfolded, as a massive body covered with scales like black rock rose, as did a massive, elongated head, adorned with four bony horns and opening two bottomless white eyes. A gaping jaw opened, letting out a loud roar.  
_"DRAGON!!" yelled Yara. All remained paralyzed, especially Daenerys, by the sudden appearance of this white-eyed black dragon who, waking up by the sounds of battle and the smell of fresh blood, turned his imposing body towards the group of humans, seeing them there as prey. He was the same size and wingspan as Drogon, but it was not him. They had no chance against such a monster. Was it the end?  
Another bestial roar echoed through the air, raising everyone's eyes, even to the dragon of the shadows. Daenerys resumed hope, having recognized the sound. It was with joy that she finally saw Drogon emerge from the night sky, spreading away the clouds of fog with his wings and landing in front of the other dragon to protect his mother. The two giant reptiles looked at each other in the eyes, each roaring furiously to try to intimidate the other. Without further ado, the two dragons threw themselves on each other, entering into a violent and brutal wrestling fight, inflicting bites and blows of violence at the height of their size. The ground was shaking, the rocks were shattered in front of the fight. Shen threw himself on Yara to make her move and both rolled to the ground, avoiding a piece of rock thrown into the air. Shen found himself on the ground on his back, Yara leaning over him.  
_ "T... thank you." Yara said, a little embarrassed by the position. Shen blushes a little too.  
With tears in his eyes, her hands in front of her mouth, Daenerys was destroyed in the sight of her child fighting and bleeding from his first wounds. Drogon bit deeply at the dragon's neck, piercing the scales and trying to strangle him, but the other dragon struggled, roaring in pain and managing to free himself, succeeded to bite Drogon around his neck. Drogon bit one of the dragon's wings, hoping to make him let go. But the shadow dragon pushed Drogon back, and the Daenerys dragon's back hit the wall of a rocky cliff violently, causing it to shake and crumble a few pieces. Drogon was in trouble, fell to the ground after the shock. He tried to get up, but the other dragon, made furious by the wounds, jumped on him with all his weight, blocking him on the ground and gave him other scratches and bites. Drogon roared with pain, unable to stand up or defend himself properly.  
_ "Drogon!!" screamed Daenerys in tears, starting to run towards him. Kinvara could not hold her back while the queen quickly gave her the bag with the two dragon eggs.  
_ "Majesty!" said the priestess anxiously. Yara, Shen and Grey Worm also saw her too late, unable to do anything. Daenerys was not listening anymore. She had already lost too much. She would not let her last son die without acting.


	9. Part 9

In spite of the voices of her friends screaming to make her come back, Daenerys continued to run without stopping. She thought of only one thing: saving her last son, Drogon, who was being killed before her eyes. Indeed, the dragon of the shadows had put Drogon down, completely at his mercy, and hammered him with claws and fangs. With his talons, the dragon of the shadows scratched Drogon deeply in the abdomen, causing him to bleed profusely.  
Despite fierce resistance, Drogon barely reacted, growling heavily and barely moving, his body and head covered with bleeding wounds. The white-eyed dragon, also wounded, blocked Drogon's head with one of his paws to keep him from moving, and was about to finish him off by tearing the throat with his jaws. Seeing him do it, Daenerys stopped right behind him, her expression shifting from fear and sadness to fierce anger.  
_ "DO NOT TOUCH MY SON!!" she yelled with all her anger, clenching her fists and teeth, tears of rage streaming down her cheeks. Alerted by this cry, the dragon of the shadows stopped his action and turned his attention to this little human woman who stood about ten meters behind him, and who defied him with her eyes. The dragon emitted a scowl, saliva and Drogon's blood flowing from his jaw. Further on, the others had stayed away from the dragon fight, but watched, horrified, their queen facing this soulless monster. Kinvara had entrusted the eggs to Shen, and had run alongside Daenerys, the two women now facing the dragon.  
The latter grunted and opened his gaping jaw, whose interior began to glow with a reddish glow. Daenerys and Kinvara swallowed. He was about to spit his fire on them. Fortunately, Drogon, like a devil, jumped up, roaring with rage and closing his jaws on the dragon's throat, brutally crushing him against the wall of the cliff. Stunned by the brutal shock, the white-eyed dragon fell to the ground. Drogon did not give him time to recover, and unleashed his fiery breath on the shadow dragon's head, covering it with a coat of infernal flames. The smell of burnt flesh was felt as the dragon of the shadows roared with abominable pain, seeing his head burnt and his scales and flesh falling off his skull. Drogon stopped his blast, but did not stop there. Biting his enemy's throat again, he tore off the head, throwing it further and seeing it rolled to the ground in the dust. Immediately, ghouls came out of their hiding places and began to devour the still smoking flesh of that dead dragon's head.  
Daenerys, like Kinvara and the rest of the survivors, were relieved to see the fight finally over. Unfortunately, Daenerys quickly lost his smile, noting with horror that Drogon had not escaped unscathed from this terrible confrontation. The young black dragon limped a little, his body covered with bloody gashes and fang marks. But what shocked Daenerys most was to see that the left side of Drogon's head had been deeply scratched, the flesh being visible, and his eye had become veiled, blind. Drogon was breathing heavily, visibly exhausted, moaning, and seemed to be suffering from this deep wound. The dragons could survive wounds that would kill most other creatures, but Drogon really seemed to be in pain, so much so that he could not stand and fell heavily to the ground. Pouring a tear, Daenerys hurried to him, and the dragon moaned, reassured to see her alive.  
_ "My poor baby ... you risked your life again for me ... I'm so sorry for what happened to you ..." Daenerys sighed, snuggling against Drogon's snout, caressing him with love while avoiding touching the wound to avoid hurting him. The dragon closed his only valid eye, moaning under the caresses of his mother. Daenerys was looking at Drogon's blind eye, feeling so sorry for him. He would see only with one eye now, which could seriously pose a handicap. Standing behind, the others watched, letting the queen comfort her son after this hard fight. While caressing him, Daenerys could feel Drogon's slow, weak breathing.  
_ "Drogon, I beg you, you have to get up ..... I can not lose you too ... not you ...." Daenerys groaned in tears, praying in her mind so that the red god, in his mercy, does not let the young dragon die. Seeing her crying, Drogon was imbued with a new strength and a desire to live. He could not abandon his mother. He would never do it, no matter what would cost him. He had saved her from death, and now, in her turn, she was ready to do anything to save him. Dropping in his last strength, Drogon leaned on his wings and hind legs, lifting his massive body from the dusty ground. Seeing him do so, Daenerys resumed an ounce of hope, encouraging him to continue. It is not today that he would die.  
*********  
Westeros, King's Landing

Night had fallen for several hours on the southern royal capital. However, Bran was not sleeping. Sitting in front of his desk lit by a lantern, he was focused on writing something on a parchment, and seemed in a hurry to finish it.  
But as he wrote, his hand holding the quill was seized with an uncontrolled tremor, which Bran managed to stop with his other hand. On his wrist, the mark of the King of the Night seemed to have grown larger, having spread a little more on his skin. He had noticed it for a while, and knew what it meant. Keeping a semblance of reason as much as he could, feeling that he was losing control of himself more and more, he finished writing the parchment, sealed it, and prepared it.  
_ "It's started ..... I could not hold it back any longer ...... It's going to depend on them now ..." he said still very calmly, casting his neutral gaze in the direction of balcony of his room, and the sky sprinkled with stars.  
*********  
Westeros, Beyond the wall

Although he tried to forget it, to think of other things and to accept the facts, his mind persisted in showing him every night the same vision of the past, as an eternal punishment for the crime he had committed. ... Jon never stopped seeing her again and again ... He and Dany, in the devastated room of the throne covered with ashes, himself promising that they would always be together, just before stabbing her in the heart, and seeing her face freeze in front of his .... Dany falling to the ground, life leaving her gradually, and he, powerless and annihilated of the gesture he had just committed, looking at her with nothing to do but accompany her in her last moments .... He expected Drogon to kill him on the spot for what he had done, but instead, the dragon was getting into a monstrous rage towards the iron throne and had it reduced to a melted heap melting with his fiery breath, before taking his mother's body with great precaution and disappear with her in the air, among the sea of opaque clouds, under the look of Jon, destroyed.  
Jon opened his eyes, panting softly with the umpteenth and even nightmare he had just relived. Lying on the fur mattress, he straightened slowly, blowing and running his hand over his face and taking a few seconds to wake up well. He looked inside his little tent in animal skins and leather. The remains of the small fire in the center continuing to smoke and letting die the last embers. Ghost, his white direwolf, was still sleeping, curled up beside his master. Jon gave him a small caress without waking him. He almost envied him to be able to sleep so peacefully. Jon sat thoughtfully, unable to detach that vision from his head. He still blamed himself, and would no doubt do so for the rest of his life as an exile. He who was not so long ago had turned out to be Aegon Targaryen, son of Rhaegar and Lyanna and heir to the iron throne.  
Knowing that he would not be able to go back to sleep, he got up, dressed in his outfit made of animal leather and furs to protect him from the cold. Even in summer, the lands beyond the wall remained perpetually frozen. Jon came out of his tent, greeted by the cool morning air that rubbed his face. The first sounds of animals came from the snow-covered pine forest below the valley. The sun had risen recently on this new day, and already, in the wildlings camp, a few early men were already up and dressed, lighting new fires to prepare meals for their families. Among them was Tormund, who, seeing his friend Jon awake, came to greet him. But the wildling quickly divined the morose and withdrawn look of his friend.  
_ "You still dreamed of her, is that it?" said Tormund, who, though being a wildling, was far from being a fool. Jon nodded nonchalantly, feeling his throat tighten every time he thought about it but was trying to stay strong anyway. Tormund invited him to sit with him around one of the campfires and the two men sat down. The comforting warmth of the flames brought a little comfort to the broken man that Jon was trying to bury in himself.  
_ "Well, listen ..." Tormund told him while preparing a piece of meat to cook "... You did not have a choice, it was you who told me. She had begun to destroy everything and you had to do it to stop the massacre once and for all. Now that this bloody throne has been destroyed, it's settled."  
_ "I know ...." Jon answered with a sigh "... but it's not that easy. Put yourself in my place for two seconds. Forced to kill the woman I loved, the blood of my blood.... A part of me tells me that I made the right choice, but the other tells me that I was wrong .... I don't know who I am anymore."  
Tormund did not like to see his friend whining like that, gave him a big friendly pat on the back and handed him the first piece of meat that had been cooked in the fire. The pleasant smell was felt and Jon politely accepted it. He was hungry, he had to admit it.  
_ "Try to think about other things, Jon ... with time, it will pass." Tormund told him.  
_ "Thanks Tormund, it's nice to worry about it."  
_ "Oh I don't, my little moron ...." Tormund replied with a mocking wink "... it's just that I want you to stay focused ... today, we're of hunting chores you and me."  
Jon guessed that Tormund was trying to make him laugh a little with this deliberately misplaced remark. He appreciated the gesture but just smiled, so Tormund laughed heartily, proud of him. But Jon, again, looking towards the flames of the little campfire, thought of a rather disturbing detail he had heard in his nightmare after stabbing Daenerys .... a sound that disturbed him and echoed in his head ..... cries...the cries of a baby ...  
***********  
Essos, off Asshai

Came back on the ironborn ship that this time left Asshai and slid back into the dark, silent waters of the end of the world, Daenerys had isolated herself in her cabin. Sitting on the bed, she held in her hands one of the two dragon eggs, putting it in the candlelight to better contemplate it in every detail. She had finally succeeded in finding them, but now she has to make them born. This is where Kinvara intervened and her analysis of the visions that her god sent her in the flames. Daenerys had told her about her strange dream, in those dark ruins, that runic circle and that sword that had appeared in the middle of the fire ... Kinvara had seen her too, and had revealed to the mother of the dragons that it could only exist a place similar to the one she described: the forgotten ruins of Ulos, a mysterious island located in the Saffron Straits, off the coast of the shadow lands. It was towards the island that was now heading the expedition.  
Drogon, although very wounded, had kept his strength and was flying through the air above the ship, although more slowly than before, having not recovered all his strength despite the extra two days spent at Asshai to allow the dragon to recover to be able to fly.  
On the deck of the ship, Grey Worm and the rest of the crew were preparing to prepare the ship for the arrival on the coast of the island of Ulos.  
In the hold of the ship, lit by a single candle, Shen and Yara were sitting face to face on wooden crates. Yara had been slightly injured on the wrist during the fight against the ghouls, and Shen-zoan had been shown to have some medical skills. Yi Ti's man placed a bandage of linen around her wrist with a shallow scratch, but still hurting Yara. Shen had impregnated the bandage with a lotion created by himself, from medicinal plants from the lands of Yi Ti, which Shen had learned the curative use from his master during his training. A good fighter, as he said, had to master the art of healing like fighting. Although Yara moaned in pain with the product coming into contact with her wound, she trusted her friend to treat her.  
In her cabin, Daenerys continued to carefully examine the two dragon eggs, checking that they were in good condition. Strangely, every time she put her hands in contact with the stone surface of the eggs, she felt like a comforting warmth in her belly. It was as if her future child, in that barely rounded belly, was also feeling the unique warmth of these stone eggs. Daenerys could not help smiling, and finding hope. This child growing in her belly would be a real Targaryen, the one who would save the lineage and prevent it from disappearing. Unfortunately, the threat of the Faceless men made her quickly return to reality and fear for the future. No, they will never have her life, nor that of her baby. She would never allow it, just like Drogon.  
After several hours of travel on the water, the ship had finally arrived in sight of the island, very large and also covered with this eternal worrying fog. Drogon arrived there first, landing heavily on the land, sniffing and looking around carefully and waiting for the arrival of the boat and his mother.  
Once the anchor was thrown, a rowboat brought Daenerys and her group of allies to the black sand beach, while the rest of the crew would remain on the ship and wait for them. Carrying her satchel with the two dragon eggs, Daenerys silently watched the landscape of the island that stood in front of her. She almost felt like she had been here before, even if it was only in a dream. The atmosphere of this island did not differ from the shadow lands, which did not really reassure the crew. But Daenerys, despite her mistrust and fear of these cursed lands, knew that she could not back down. Her destiny stood there, calling her and waiting only to see if she would be able to show herself worthy.  
_ "For my child ..... I have to do it for my child ...." she whispered softly to herself to give herself the courage to take the first step. Escorted by Kinvara, Yara Greyjoy, Shen-zoan, Grey Worm, as well as the two Fiery Hand warriors and the group of unsullied, Daenerys began her march and the group left the beach towards the interior of the island. Drogon would follow them as well, but went off to explore the other corners of the island, feeling the unhealthy and negative waves that permeated the ground.  
After a walk of several minutes on this island devoid of any sign of life, the group finally arrived in sight of the dark and very old ruins of a city that seemed to have almost merged with the rock of the island, the gnarled roots and thick of some black trees present having disemboweled the ground in slabs of stone. Daenerys recognized exactly what she had seen in her dream. Everything was in its place and as it was in the dream. The ark delimiting the entrance of the city .... the two statues of dragons guarding this entrance .... each ruin was in its precise place, in the state where it was to be. Arriving in front of the remains of the old temple, also being identical to the vision in the dream, Daenerys had a lump in her throat, apprehension growing in her.  
_ "There is no time to retreat, my queen ...... you must enter alone, and face the judgment of the angels of cinder and accept your destiny ..... especially, do not let them to guess your deepest fears .... they would use them against you." Kinvara warns in front of the old stone steps leading to the top of the entrance.  
Daenerys swallowed again. Were these angels of cinder the nameless entities she had seen in her dream? She should face them alone? The idea itself froze her blood, but this ultimate test of the master of light would allow her to be worthy once and for all. Yara, Shen, and Grey Worm did not show much comfort in letting their queen alone in such a sordid place. Just like Drogon, who kept on grumbling furiously against these ruins with the evil appearance.  
Strongly clinging to the idea that she was doing it for her future child, Daenerys climbed one by one, slowly but cautiously up the steps of the big abandoned temple, holding the two dragon eggs in her arms. The rest of the group remained at the bottom of the steps, watching her in a tension to cut with a knife.  
_ "At the slightest scream I hear, we run to help her, no matter what's in there." Yara warned Kinvara, who had no objection, too focused on watching the Queen Targaryen climb the steps of her destiny. Shen seemed to approve the idea of the ironborn queen, just like Grey Worm. And it was in utter anguish that they saw Daenerys pass the dusty pillars of the temple and disappear little by little into the opaque darkness of the ruins.  
The biting cold and abnormal was back, coming encircling Daenerys from all sides and caressing her skin bare in an unpleasant sensation as invisible frozen fingers coming to palpate. She entered and took her first steps in an immense space which she also recognized as the main place of her dream. Indeed, the runic circle was in the center, painted on the stone, and in the middle, was dancing this mysterious flame. As she walked, Daenerys felt a slight crackling noise beneath his boots, and noticed that the entire floor of the room was covered with a carpet of ash of several inches thick.  
As she advanced on the carpet of ashes, Daenerys saw, with anguish, the same entities, seven in number, with skull masks and white bottomless eyes, draped with her tattered shadow togas and covered with ashes, their hoods hiding their heads. The angels of cinder, turning on her their inhuman glances and letting her come to them.  
Arrived near the runes circle, she stopped with a slight surge of surprise, an entity appeared in front of her from the darkness and barring the path. From the back of the shadow were spread dark shapes like black angel wings of a wingspan of three meters. Although impressed by the appearance of the creature, Daenerys did everything to stay calm, head held up and looking at the entity in the eyes.  
_ "Daenerys, of the house Targaryen .... you come here, facing those whose name was forgotten since the dawn of time, to revive the flesh that was changed into stone ..... however, fear that we perceive in you leads us to believe that you are not worthy to be granted the right to contemplate the sword that will be born from fire and ashes."  
Without being able to say a word in order to defend herself, Daenerys was again assaulted by painful visions hammering her mind relentlessly. Obviously, she had let this entity access her fears and her most intimate pain, and the latter had not hesitated for a second to use it for the test.  
She saw them again, all those she had lost in her life .... Drogo, Jorah, Missandei, Viserion and Rhaegal, all turning to her, their faces deformed by the pain and death that had carried them away of her arms. She saw their dead, one after the other, again and again .... Jon Snow also appeared, stabbing her in the heart and watching her die under the rain of ashes .... She saw herself, screaming at death in a most intense suffering, while his future child cried with all his strength, but made his last breath just born ....  
_ "We are dead ..... we are all dead for following you .... You killed us!!" the voices of Drogo, Jorah and Missandei were screaming in unison, with murderous contempt for her. A tear in their eyes, Daenerys heard them accusing her.  
_ "NO! NOOOO!"  
Daenerys screamed, falling to her knees in the ashes, under the eyes of the angel of cinder who did nothing to help her, just lowering his impassive eyes to her. Daenerys was shaking, a prey to her fears materialized by the will of this entity coming to put her to the test. Clenching her teeth, sadness and grief turned into anger, the young woman straightened her head, her cheeks bursting with tears and glared at the angel of cinder.  
_ "I am Daenerys stomrborn, of house Targaryen! The unburnt,breaker of chains and mother of dragons! I am from the blood of old Valyria and the fire of the dragon flows in my veins!! I am here in order to fulfill my destiny, and hear me that I will not let anything or anyone stop me!" she proclaimed with determination to the entities of darkness, who, neutral, arms crossed, listened attentively. After these words filled with a real strength, the angel of cinder standing in front of her stepped forward, handing her something he made appear one of his shady sleeves ... a dagger with a slightly curved black blade and a skull-shaped pommel.  
_ "In this case, prove it ...." said the entity in his unhealthy voice "... only the blood of the real dragon can revive the fire and reveal to the eyes of men and gods the one who was promised. ... if it turns out that you are not, then the punishment will fall on you ..... it's up to you now."  
Daenerys understood with horror what he expected of her. Taking the weapon that was stretched out to her, she hesitated a few seconds, her hand shaking slightly around the handle. Taking a deep breath and mentally preparing, she cutted the palm of her hand deeply with the sharp blade, emitting a whine of intolerable pain as the red blood ran down her skin and fell in several drops on the carpet of ashes. Stunned, she saw a reaction from the flame in the circle who gradually spread. At her feet, where the drops of blood had fallen, Dany saw the ashes incandescent, gradually giving birth to new flames. The angels of cinder had vanished, leaving the young woman alone with her two dragon eggs, while the carpet of ashes that covered the entire floor of the room flared up in walls thick with red flames. Panting, her hand aching and looking all around her with no way to escape, Daenerys squeezed the two eggs against her, hoping the master of the light had agreed to give her a chance. In the din of the flames, she thought she heard the tears of the baby dragons again, very close, while the heat was increasing on the eggs.  
Kneeling on the floor and seeing the walls of flames closing on her, Dany agreed to put his fate in the hands of the gods. And in the fire, she saw it too, appearing like a ghost between the flames, this shining sword of a thousand fires, flamboyant ruby encrusted in the pommel.....  
*********  
Outside the temple, the group and the dragon watched in amazement as the whole temple burst into flames.  
_ "DAENERYS!!" Yara yelled as she rushed to her aid, but Shen and Grey Worm held her back, not knowing what to do. Kinvara remained very focused, not moving an inch. Drogon, strangely, also remained very calm.  
And it was there, that all saw her, in the greatest silence .... at the top of the steps, slowly advanced a feminine and human figure, appearing from the wall of roaring flames and crossing it without any difficulty. All at the foot of the steps remained frozen, dumb and stupefied. Her clothes burned in the fire, Daenerys stood there, completely naked but alive and unscathed, her face high and reinforced. On her shoulder stood a small winged, reptilian shape, with metallic-blue colored scales and yellow eyes, which gave a shrill roar. In her arms, a second baby dragon, with beige and light brown scales, and orange eyes, snuggling against her belly. In her right hand she held a sword, whose blade covered with runes almost gave the illusion of being covered with flames licking its surface. Behind her, the fire continued without her being affected by the infernal heat that reigned.  
_"It's unbelievable ...." Yara stammered under the effect of fascination.  
_"Oh blood of my blood ...." sighed Kinvara, amazed, while kneeling with respect, just as the two soldiers of the Fiery Hand did. Yara, Grey Worm, Shen-zoan, and the group of unsullied also bowed, while Drogon, more than satisfied, uttered a loud roar and spewed a torrent of flames to the sky. Daenerys contemplated all this from the top of the steps, without saying a word, more determined than ever, having proved to all who she really was now.


	10. Part 10

Westeros, King's Landing 

In the capital of the six kingdoms, an atmosphere and an increasingly palpable tension had been felt over the weeks in the red keep. Tyrion had learned, through the mouths of the other members of the small council, that King Bran had recently been completely isolated himself, no longer speaking to anyone, and remaining permanently confined to his quarters. The servants said they were constantly finding his meals in front of his door, without him touching it, and that he had even locked his door from the inside. Davos, Samwell and Brienne had each attempted to knock on his door to get an answer, but the only one they got was a Bran order to leave him alone.  
Not liking it at all, Tyrion volunteered to try to talk to the king and understand what was going on, but Bronn, as the new master of coins, offered himself in his place, which Tyrion accepted.  
Bronn had arrived at the door of the king's personal quarters, and once again saw near the door the meal still intact and cold on a silver tray. Bronn knocked softly at the door, waited a few moments, but as he expected, no answer came. Sighing, the master of coins looked briefly at the fact that no one was in sight, and using the tip of his dagger, began to try to unlock the lock. Although it was not used to break into a king's apartment, Bronn was not one to wait and wanted answers now, admitting that he too did not like that taking.  
After long minutes, he finally managed to open the lock and pushed the door very slowly, noticing that the room was plunged into semi-darkness.  
_"Majesty?" asked Bronn, without an answer. Although summer was here, he noticed an abnormal freshness in the room, seeing almost steam coming out of his mouth with each breath. As he stepped, a small creak was heard under his boot, and Bronn was surprised to see a very thin layer of frost that had formed on the marble slabs. But before he could wonder how and why, he finally saw Bran, sitting in his armchair, standing with his back to him and standing still, contemplating towards the large window of the room whose curtain had been pulled out completely, preventing the daylight to enter.  
_"Majesty?"  
Still no response, or the slightest reaction from Bran except a very slight movement of the head.  
_ "Your majesty, what are you doing? What are you playing here? Everyone on the small council is worried about you ..... With respect, with all due respect, I will not leave before you tell me clearly what does that mean."  
Annoyed by the continued freshness and darkness of the room, and Bran's unresponsiveness to his words, Bronn sighed heavily and heading for the window, wanted to open the curtain to let in the sun and the day again. But as he passed, Bronn felt Bran's strong, icy grip grasp his wrist, stopping him and even tearing a grimace of pain. Bronn barely had time to turn around as the cold blade of a dagger pierced his heart, freezing him in the spot. Feeling his blood flowing over his tunic, Bronn could not express a cry of pain, while before him, Bran continued to stare at him, impassive. Bronn's expression, however, shifted into a sense of surprise and fear at the sight of the young king's face, who watched his master of coins stifle before him on the ground, in a pool of blood.  
Alerted by the noise, Tyrion ran as fast as he could, and reached the door of the king's quarters, which he found wide open.  
"Bronn? Majest ... ..." began to say the dwarf, but the horror of what he saw interrupted him immediately. Bronn lay, lifeless, on the marble floor, his floor flowing over the slabs, while Bran, very slowly and still standing from behind, rose from his chair. Tyrion was speechless. The fear increased even more when the young king turned to him, the bloody dagger still in his hand. In the dim light of the room, Bran's eyes glowed in a terrifying, icy blue, while the skin of his face and hands had gradually become covered with frozen venules, and his skin had become as pale than a dead person.  
********  
Essos, Dothraki Sea

2 months later ....

The huts in flames .... the bodies of men lying dozens on the ground .... women and children captured and enslaved ..... crying, moans, tears and the smell of blood ..... that's all there was left of a small fishing village in the south of the Dothrak Sea. The feared dothrakis, on their powerful horses were euphoric of such a massacre, was now heading for their new destination towards the East, taking with them their numerous prisoners in the middle of the great grassy plains dancing with the wind and under the overwhelming heat of the midday sun.  
The former khalasar of Daenerys Targaryen was now led by a new khal, Onro, the latter having self-proclaimed new leader after the death of the dragon queen and have eliminated a rival who also wanted to take power. Other dothrakis challenged this choice and after multiple conflicts that led to many deaths, the khalasar had dispersed into several, each headed by a new leader.  
Onro now led a khalasar of just over 3,000 riders, having managed to subdue other smaller khalasars after killing their khals in duels. He had survived the battle of Winterfell against the army of the dead, had followed Daenerys during her reconquest of the throne. But secretly, Onro had always been an ambitious warrior who dreamed of taking power and becoming the khal of the khals to rule Essos as a whole. Thus, after returning to the Dothraki Sea with his warriors, Onro had embarked on the project of extending the territory of the dothrakis, while continuing to attack the cities and villages that appeared to him.  
Advancing proudly at the head of his khalasar, Onro noticed something in the distance that caught his attention, and signaled his bloodriders to stop. He pointed to what he was seeing. In the distance, walking among the hills strewn with tall grass, was moving a human figure, alone and carrying on its shoulders a stick of wood. The lonely traveler hummed merrily, though he noticed the dothraki horde coming towards him, but remained astonishingly calm and smiling. Intrigued by this man advancing alone in the middle of the plains, Onro unsheathed his Arakh, brandishing it with force and ordering his best warriors to follow him.  
Shen-zoan stopped, without showing the least hint of anxiety, and saw these Dothrakis warriors come to him. But as they approached their new target, Onro and his blood-riders suddenly stopped their advance, seeing coming from the hills behind the traveler, a large troop of men dressed in armor and black helmets, and armed with spears and shields. Grey Worm arrived, followed by the remaining 4000 remaining unsullied he had managed to return to the Queen after announcing the return of the latter to life. With them were Yara, wearing her ironborn queen's armor, and accompanied by her troops who had come with her to Essos, brandishing the proud banner of the Greyjoys. Lady Kinvara also stood at their side, escorted by her warriors from the Fiery Hand. Shen-zoan looked over his shoulder at his friends, then smiled at the dothrakis facing him, making them understand that it was in their interest not to seek the conflict.  
A very important detail struck the khal Onro. The banners floating in the wind held by some of the unsullied had a coat of arms that Onro knew very well: a red dragon with three heads, on a black background. The bloodriders also noticed this detail and cast a wary eye on each other. Onro clenched his teeth, a bad feeling invading him.  
A colossal and powerful roar was heard piercing the heavens and thrilling the hearts of all. Looking up at the sky, Onro and his khalasar remained petrified with stupor and fear at the sight of a giant shadow appearing in the sky and covering them with its dark tablecloth, masking the sun. The villagers enslaved by the dothrakis also stared at the same terrified faces. Drogon, like a divine apparition, emerged from the clouds, and slowly but surely, landed on the moor, about ten meters from Onro and his bloodriders and facing them. Onro and his warriors had to keep their horses frightened by the arrival of the huge flying reptile. The stupefaction of Onro and the dothrakis grew all the more at the sight of the young woman who was sitting on the back of the dragon, wearing an elegant ebony dress with dark red hues, her silver hair combed in a tall braid falling on her shoulder, and on her shoulders, two baby dragons, emitting small, shrill roars. Around her waist was now a brown leather belt, and a sheath in which was the sword she had acquired in the fire by the will of the master of light, according to Lady Kinvara.  
Onro could not believe it with his eyes. Daenerys Targaryen was there, alive and riding her mighty black dragon. At the sight of their khaleesi that all thought dead, the dothrakis remained speechless.  
Drogon stepped forward, grunting ferociously, while Daenerys, her face closed, turned her gaze to Onro. She knew Onro and had already seen him fighting for her. He was a rather special dothraki, knowing his attraction for strength and power, and his desire to one day dominate others. It seemed that his opportunist side had finally revealed itself, judging by the khalasar he was now leading. Daenerys also glanced at the convoy of villagers who were prisoners, tied up, and forcibly taken away by the dothrakis. This view of prisoners was not to the liking of the Queen of Dragons, who did not hesitate to show her discontent, addressed the Khal Onro in the Dothraki language.  
_ "Onro .... I admit to being half surprised to find you at the head of my khalasar .... you have always wanted the place of leader."  
The khal tensed with anger and with his arahk, almost threatening young Queen Targaryen.  
_ "You should not be here, silver woman ..... your power and your reign are dead ..... it's me now who's ordering! Submit to your new khal, or I'll kill your friends to the last and would force you to look, before raping until your bleeding to death!"  
Daenerys had listened and sketched a half smile of irony. Was Onro so blind to utter threats in front of a woman riding an adult dragon? He had never been the most clever of the dothrakis, and she still had the evidence today.  
_ "As you can see ..." Daenerys replied in dothraki "... my reign is not dead, since I stand here in front of you. I came back to claim my place as a legitimate khaleesi of this khalasar!"  
Onro spat on the ground unrestrained by Queen Targaryen's injunction, and threatened her again.  
_ "Never again would I obey a whore like you .... I'm the new great khal!"  
Daenerys remained calm, but gave Onro a gloomy look.  
_ "I only knew one great khal in my life ..." she proclaimed in front of all the warriors who listened "... and his name was Khal Drogo!"  
At the mention of her first and late love and husband, Daenerys could notice, in the eyes of some of the bloodriders, that she also knew, a brief moment of hesitation to want the confronted, but the threatening look of Onro in their regard, made them change their minds. They were dothrakis, and would follow the strength of their leader, as their custom.  
_ "They will never follow you again ..... queen of nothing at all!" Onro spat again, without hesitation. Yara was fuming, feeling the urge to silence him with her ax, just like Grey Worm with his spear. For Daenerys, this time, Onro exceeded the limits and she decided to stop it, once and for all.  
_ "Dracarys ...." she said very calmly without flinching. Drogon reacted immediately and poured a torrent of roaring flames on Onro and his horse, who did not even have time to react and were both engulfed in the infernal whirlwind. The bloodriders just behind retreated very quickly with their horses, panicked. Onro's howls sounded among the crackling fire, and his horse, on fire, fled the wall of fire, before collapsing dead a few meters away, completely charred and smoking. Onro also appeared screaming and wriggling in all directions, his face and skin disappearing under the flames that licked and blackened his flesh and bones, disintegrating his long hair and melting his arakh like wax. In this vision, Daenerys saw for a brief moment all those whom she had watched burning in the flames of her dragons .... she shuddered with disgust. She had sworn not to do it again to the innocents, but Onro was not one. He had uttered serious but stupid threats against her, her friends, threatening to rape her to the blood while forcing her to watch her allies die, and insulted Drogo's memory, and that Daenerys could not tolerate it.  
Onro finally collapsed to the ground, the fire continuing to gnaw his body calcined and inert. In front of this, the bloodriders as well as the rest of the khalasar did not attempt anything, while Daenerys, on the back of her dragon, advanced towards them to speak to them.  
_ "You were my khalasar and have always stayed in. You have followed me beyond the poisoned water to the lands of the iron men and their stone houses! You risked your lives for me against the armies of the dead, and many have never returned! But I assure you, that I, Daenerys stormborn, swear on my honor as well as in front of the mother of mountains herself, that never again will you suffer by my fault! Help me free the peoples of Essos from the tyranny of those who claim to be masters of this world and your lives as they would be the masters of a beaten dog! Come with me, and together, may we built a more just and free world!"  
Daenerys proclaimed loudly and forcefully, unsheathing her silver blade sword out of her scabbard and brandishing it, shining in the sunlight above her, while Drogon stood on his hind legs, wings spread and uttered a triumphal roar coming to tear the air. Around the queen and her dragon, Grey Worm and the unsullied, struck their spears against their shields in unison, while Yara and the ironborns lifted their arms and howled loudly for their dragon queen. Kinvara and Shen watched with some pride. The khalasar had before him an army, certainly small, but already borrowed from a great force. Their old khal now being reduced to a pile of coal on the ground, the bloodriders, already well acquainted with the young Targaryen woman, gave her new allegiance, brandishing their arakhs and cheering the dragon queen, which then did everything else khalasar.  
*********  
The first thing Daenerys ordered her Dothrakis warriors finally found was to release the many villagers they had captured during the previous looting, and allow them to return home, or to remain as men and women free under the protection of the queen. Daenerys had personally walked to the prisoners and removed the chains from the first of them, showing the others what she was doing for them. Yara, Shen and the unsullied had helped remove the remaining chains. Seeing the faces of these women and children freed from their chains, the spark of hope reborn in their irises and their thanks for taking them under his protection, brought back to Daenerys' heart an ounce of strength, a force she thought never to find again, and the satisfaction of knowing that the woman she had been before was not dead.  
After reconquering her khalasar, Daenerys was brought to the camp of these, located a little further north in the middle of a large clearing surrounded by hills. Onro's tent, larger and larger than the others, immediately became the new tent of Daenerys that settled there, and immediately released the slave woman she found chained inside upon arrival, and that Onron kept for several weeks as a sex slave. The poor 14-year-old woman from a farming village was abused and beaten. This reinforced Daenerys' conviction that at no time did she regret having put an end to Onro's actions.  
Lady Kinvara had reassured the former prisoners, telling them who was Daenerys of house Targaryen, and what she would do to make this world a better place, free from slavery. Grey Worm, Yara Greyjoy and Shen-zoan had organized the troops and guards around the camp, particularly reinforcing the number of guards near the Queen's tent. No other assassination attempt was made against her since two months, but caution was warranted.  
Having gathered the unsullied, the dothrakis and the ironborns in her one and only army, Daenerys had retired a few moments in her new tent, taking care of her two new children. The two baby dragons were standing on a large carved wooden perch, looking around curiously and sometimes making small, shrill grunts. Sitting on the khal's bed, made of comfortable fur and animal skins, Daenerys watched tenderly as the two little dragons discovered their new surroundings. In already two months, they had grown up, being now a little bigger than small dogs.  
The blue-steel scaled, yellow-eyed baby dragon was a female, with a rather mild temperament, but could sometimes be fierce towards her younger brother. Daenerys had named her Mirrandes, in memory of her deceased and loyal servant and friend, Missandei. Mirrandes was also distinguished by her sleeker and slimmer pace than her brother, but also by longer, curved horns, almost like those of a goat.  
As for the second baby dragon, with scales in a mixture of beige and light brown, and orange-eyed, had shown a strong character, but above all a faithful fidelity to his mother and sister. This loyalty reminded Daenerys of one particular person who had remained in her heart. She named him Joreas, in memory of the Andal knight Jorah. Joreas had also a little bone horn on his nose.  
These two new dragons, born also of the stone changed by the fire, and which by the price of the life of two friends and allies close to the queen, could come to life. In a new sense, Daenerys thought that the sacrifices of Missandei and Jorah had not been in vain, although she would obviously wished to have never lose them. Magic, no matter which one, always demanded a terrible price, and that, Dany knew only too well for her greater suffering.  
These two new children in Daenerys' life, however, was a joy she never thought she would ever live again, and she would relive it again with the arrival of the child who continued to grow in her womb. Drogon had very well accepted his new brother and new sister, although a little jealous of Daenerys' attention to them. Drogon was like that, but still remained faithful and protective of those he considers his family, Daenerys had the proof more than once.  
Seeing that his two new children seemed to be hungry, Daenerys got up to go and get a small piece of raw horse meat in a small bowl, made available to feed the baby dragons at any time. Seeing the little piece of meat in their mother's hand, the two babies came down from their perch, coming eagerly to her and starting to argue for food by trying to give small bites to each other.  
_ "No, no, no fight, ok? You will have your turn each." Daenerys said like a mother to her children. Mirrandes and Joreas listened attentively and calmed down a little. Smiling, Daenerys placed the little piece of meat on the floor, and with a simple look, made Mirrandes understand what she was waiting from her. The female baby dragon came forward, sniffing the meat with appetite, but dared not eat it raw. Daenerys knew what she had to do, as she once did with Drogon when he was a baby.  
_ "Dracarys," Daenerys said softly. Mirrandes had heard, staring at her mother with curiosity, but also with a certain glimmer of understanding. Joreas listened too.  
_ "Dracarys ...." repeated the young woman, encouraging her "daughter" to do so. After a few moments of hesitation, Mirrandes took a little breath, and at the end of several efforts, managed to spit a thin blazing breath, which began to lightly cook the meat. Daenerys cheers softly, congratulating her. Mirrandes could grab the little piece of steaming meat between her jaws and swallow it greedily. It was Joreas' turn, Daenerys getting up to get another piece.  
But suddenly, Joreas raised her head, taking by a bad feeling, and turned his head towards the back of the tent, growling slightly. The young dragon roared and jumped in front of Daenerys, who gasped with surprise and fear, saw Joreas leap just in front of her, before collapsing heavily at her feet, a dart in his neck. Mirrandes roared at seeing her brother as well. Daenerys, shocked, looked up and then saw a human shadow, hooded, running away behind the tent and disappearing in the distance. She also noticed the little hole that had been pierced in the fabric of the tent, as well as the wooden blowgun, left on the floor.  
Daenerys understood, her heart beating. Joreas had sensed the danger and interposed in the trajectory of the dart, thus saving his mother from certain death. Daenerys quickly returned to Joreas, whose breathing had become very weak. Mirrandes rubbed her head against her brother, moaning with concern for him.  
_ "HELP ME! GUARDS!!" Daenerys shouted desperately, helplessly beside her dying son. Without further ado, Yara, Kinvara, Shen-Zoan, Grey Worm and some guards rustled in the tent to see the facts.  
_ "Shit! What happened?" Yara asked, coming to the dragon queen and making sure she had nothing.  
_ "The .... the faceless men .... but Joreas .... he interposed to save me and ...." Daenerys stammered in her explanations, and Yara had to calm her down a bit so that she can breathe and think. At the mention of the faceless men, Grey Worm and Shen-zoan did not lose a moment.  
_ "Search the camp! Search everywhere! Find the killer!" ordered Grey Worm to his unsullied, who obeyed on the spot. Shen-zoan went with them to help them. Alerted by the cries of distress from his mother and the feeling of danger, Drogon arrived in front of the tent, and bending his head, could see Joreas on the ground, and Daenerys and Mirrandes in distress. Drogon groaned in worry, but also in deep anger, searching around him who was responsible for it.  
Yara wanted to remove the dart from the young dragon's neck, but Kinvara held her back immediately.  
_ "Do not touch ....." warned the red priestess, who volunteered and removed the tip, examining it carefully and coming to feel its surface. A slight grimace of Kinvara confirmed the worst.  
_ "Poison ..... venom of manticore ....."  
Daenerys was destroyed on hearing this, the tears streaming down hiercheeks. She leaned over her dying young dragon, who moaned faintly and struggled to keep his eyes open. Dany's hand gently stroked his muzzle.  
_ "Joreas ....." she sighed.


	11. Part 11

Westeros, King's Landing  
The fear ..... a fear so intense that it made any thought impossible, giving birth to a feeling of helplessness as palpable as the touch ... That's what Tyrion Lannister felt now, leaning against a wall in the one of the corridors of the red keep, while the glow red as the blood of the new twilight gradually covered the world, bringing with it icy winds chasing in no time the pleasant heat of this summer.  
The hand of the king, or rather of the former king, was panting, fear being readed on his face dripping with sweat, and his trembling hand holding a small dagger to defend himself. He could hear chaos and howling all over the halls nearby, while servants and guards, brought back to life as living corpses, jump like animals on all the living who crossed their path to kill them. The blood had impregnated the bricks of the red keep, as have the cries of distress and the inhuman screams of the growing undead.  
Tyrion could not conceive of it, having prayed that it was only a horrible nightmare .... Bran Stark had become one ..... he had become the Night King and had already transformed many of his subjects as slaves. How could that be possible?! The Night King had been destroyed by Arya Stark during the Battle of Winterfell! Not being an expert in ancestral magics and legends about creatures, Tyrion felt completely overwhelmed by events.  
A howl of a woman made him come back to reality and take a look at the corner of the corridor. A little further, a young maid in distress had been stuck on the ground with violence, while two guards changed into wights, like rabid animals, threw themselves on her and began to devour her alive, the blood spurting on the walls. A still-alive guard tried to flee in panic, but three undead minions grabbed him and killed him with great savagery. Horrified, Tyrion remained hidden, trembling like a leaf. He had to flee before being spotted by these things.  
A stealthy hand landed on his shoulder, making him jump out of fear, but was reassured to see Samwell Tarly, still alive, but he too was invaded by distress and fear.  
_"Maester Tarly ....." said Tyrion, but Samwell grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him with him in a frantic race.  
_ "No time, sir, we must run, quickly!" Samwell screamed in terror as he ran. Tyrion realized quickly why, at the sight of a horde of furious wights coming up from a corridor and rushing straight to them, in a concert of rattles and cattle roars. Among the wights in their pursuit, Tyrion recognized, with horror, Bronn, being no more than a corpse alive like the others.  
Arriving at the bend of another of the innumerable corridors of the red keep, the two men on the run crossed the path of Brienne of Tarth. The captain of the guard ended up killing a last wight by piercing him in the head with her sword, in the midst of several other corpses that she had eliminated on her own. Brienne gasped heavily, her sword, her armor, and her face stained with blood, and although very strong, showed Samwell and Tyrion an expression of distress as well.  
Without further ado, they took Brienne with them to take her away. Ser Davos, also pursued by several dead, joined them and the group of survivors was now running with a horde larger and larger in their pursuit, pouring into the corridors like a tide of living corpses.  
Samwell took his friends to the old Qyburn Lab, which he had built as his own library and workshop. Brienne and Davos occupied themselves in barricating the door with all they could, and already the first wights came up against the door, making it tremble with great violence. Samwell ran in all directions, grabbing several of his most important grimoires and throwing them into a bag. Tyrion watched him, cautious.  
_ "Samwell, why did you bring us here?! It's a fucking cul-de-sac!!" the dwarf snapped, more frightened than really angry with his friend. Other violent shocks and the many grunts of the dead were heard behind the door, which Brienne and Davos held as long and with all the force they could.  
_ "Quick! They'll come in! Hurry up, fuck!" shouted Brienne. Already, a wight's hand passed violently through the wood of the door, trying to grab her by the hair, but Davos cut her off with his sword. The hand fell to the ground, and although cut at the base of the wrist, still moved her fingers. Through the crack of the door, Davos could see, behind the many undead, Bran, or rather the new Night King, with his ice-skin and monstrous blue eyes, advancing slowly towards the door.  
_ "He's coming!! Bran is coming!!" warned Davos eagerly. This news made everyone's hearts leap with horror. This door will never be able to resist Bran and his strength has become superhuman. Samwell, having finished retrieving his important books, went quickly to the back of the room, and with his hand lowered a dislodged stone which, to the astonishment of all, opened a secret door in the wall.  
_ "I found out when I moved in ..." says Samwell "... She's driving out of town. Apparently, this Qyburn had everything planned for the case."  
Without further ado, Tyrion entered the secret passage first, while Samwell waited for the other two to come and close the passage behind them. Davos and Brienne looked at each other in unison, knowing that as soon as they let go, the dead would come in.  
_ "Hurry up, come on!!" intimates Samwell.  
_ "Go ahead, Ser Brienne, I hold them back!" said Davos, resolutely. The captain of the guard stared at him.  
_"What?"  
_ "You heard me well, you will better protect them than me! Go to Winterfell, warn them!! Go ahead, it's an order!"  
She saw in the eyes of the onion knight and felt in the tone of his voice, all the distress of the situation, but also the desire to want to protect his allies. Feeling cowardly at having to abandon a friend behind her, clenching her teeth and putting her hand proudly on Davos' shoulder, Brienne obeyed and ran towards the passage, leaving Davos alone to hold the door.  
_ "You will not be forgotten, Ser Davos Seaworth!!" said Brienne with all the sincerity she could express. Davos smiled under his breath, not regretting his choice. Wights fled to make room, Bran came right in front of the door, and with a violent blow of the blade, pulled her out of her hinges, throwing Davos back on the ground. As Bran entered the room, Samwell lowered the lever, allowing the passage to close, once Brienne inside. Bran noticed the back wall closing briefly, then Ser Davos, staggering on the floor. Bran went down the few steps while the old onion knight, gasping for breath, gave him a defiant glance, and in an attempted vein, tried to hit him with his sword. Bran easily stopped the man's arm, and pierced him with his own blade.  
Ser Davos, paralyzed, the cold steel in his flesh and blood flowing at his feet, could barely take a last look at Bran, before falling to his knees and collapsing dead on the ground, at the feet of this young man, a man who was once Bran Stark, then the three-eyed raven, had now become the new Night King.  
*********  
Westeros, Beyond the wall  
_ "Gently, Ghost ..... very slowly ...."  
Jon was more than focused. Hidden in the thickets covered with snow, his white wolf at his side and a bow and arrows as weapons, the young man watched for more than an hour a prey of choice and rather rare in these countries. A reindeer, male, with beautiful woods, walked between the pines and searched peacefully in the snow looking for some grass escaping frost. An animal like this was the guarantee of several weeks of food for the whole camp. In another bush, a little further, Tormund had hidden himself, ready to kill the prey and had clear instructions.  
Jon, in the greatest precaution, prepared one of his arrows. The slightest noise could ruin everything, the reindeer seeming particularly alert to the sounds around him. Hiding easily in the bush snow, Ghost waited without moving, his red eyes fixed on the prey. Jon arched the bow very softly, taking a deep breath and firing the arrow that hit the reindeer at the thigh, taking him by surprise and preventing him from running properly.  
_"NOW!!" Jon said. Ghost darted forth at the command of his master, and like a snow devil, sprang out of his hiding place and closed his jaws on the neck of the prey, breaking it without effort and putting an end to the suffering of the reindeer. Tormund came out of his bush, his beard and his hair covered with snow, and exclaimed heartily at such a decision.  
_ "Not bad for a little southern nobleman. A little more training, and you'll be as good at reindeer hunting as I am." said the wildling with a mocking tone. Not a little proud of him, Jon also stepped out of his hiding place, laughing heartily with his friend. But without him being able to see it coming or having the time to react, Jon felt the ground crunch under his boot and in the second after, he found himself falling in a scree of violent snow, in a crevasse which was just below the white mattress.  
_ "JON!!" Tormund rushed at the sight of his friend disappearing in this snowfall, and Ghost, panicked too, screamed at death in the face of the disappearance of his master. For his part, Jon had landed on a kind of rocky slope covered with ice and had been slipping for several long minutes without being able to hold on to something. Then, the slope ended and Jon fell again and everything went dark around him without the feeling of touching the ground.  
Jon could no longer feel the limbs of his body, nor the cold around him, even his own breathing .... Was he dead again? He did not know anything about it. Opening his eyes with difficulty, he found himself in the middle of a large dark space that seemed to have no limit. In this gloomy place stood a barral, imposing, whose bark, like curdled milk, seemed very old and worn down over the centuries, just like the red leaves that filled its branches. The severe, menacing face carved into the bark of the trunk fixed Jon with his empty eyes, from which flowed a strange viscous, red liquid. Jon could not understand where he was.  
_ "TORMUND! GHOST!!" he called several times, but only the echo of his own voice was heard as an answer. And it was then that he thought himself alone and lost, that he saw them both.  
On his right came a dark figure with blue eyes shining, surrounded by an icy halo, and armed with a sword of ice. A mist of frost was gradually spreading behind him every step of his way, and a polar cold settled. Jon is also bewildered by the gigantic shadow of a crow coming to form behind the figure, unfolding wings black as the night and resounding his muffled croak through the place. A third blue eye then opened on the forehead of the human figure, also looking at Jon with a monstrous intensity that made the young former king in the north shudder with fright.  
A red glow attracted his attention to his left, towards a second form also advancing towards him. She had the appearance this time of a young woman composed entirely of fiery flames chasing the darkness around her and spreading a benevolent warmth. Her hair was silver and floating in the air, and in her hand she held a sword haloed in fire and as sparkling as a star in the summer sky. The flames behind her grew more and more, coming in the form of spreading wings and a gaping jaw of dragon letting out its fierce roar against the darkness. Jon was subjugated, unable to move in front of such a vision.  
Jon was now between the two appearances, unable to move. The two forms, one of fire and light, and the other of ice and darkness, stared at each other for long minutes, each element trying to gain the upper hand over the other in a struggle between light and darkness, heat against cold, fire dragon against a ice raven, all at the foot of the imposing barral, whose blind gaze was witness to the confrontation that ensued.  
Trapped between the sweltering heat waves and the biting icy winds, Jon could not act, trying to protect himself as much as he could and searching for some way to escape. It was then that, turning around, he found the woman of the flames standing right in front of him, and coming delicately to place her fiery hand against his cheek, without that hurting him .... The light became less intense and Jon could almost discern the features of the woman's face through the flames and her silver hair. His eyes rounded and his heart froze in his chest.  
A sharp pain seized him suddenly as he saw the blade of the woman's flames piercing his heart. He perceived in the eyes of the woman resembling Daenerys, an ounce of sadness and regret. Even larger and more powerful flames were born on the blade still buried in the chest of Jon, coming gradually cover him too, and causing him an intolerable suffering, screaming to death while the fire engulfed and hunted little by little the cold and the darkness around him and the woman of fire ....  
_ "Jon?! Hey, Jon!! Wake up!!"  
A strong slap on the cheek pulled Jon out of his sleep and he straightened up quickly, sitting in his tent on his fur. Tormund was there, kneeling beside him, and Ghost with him, emitting little squeals worried about his master. Jon was breathing heavily and looking frantically around him, but nothing unusual seemed to him.  
_ "What .... what ....?"  
_ "You were gesticulating like a maggot in your sleep ..." Tormund said to her "... did not stop moaning like a girl, and you looked scared as fuck...."  
Everything came back to Jon's mind now. The face of the woman in the flames, the harpooning of her eyes of embers .... the face of a woman he had known ....  
***********  
Essos, Dothraki Sea  
Had fatality come to stomp on her? Daenerys was really starting to wonder. Not having been able to close her eyes for two days, she had fallen asleep and was resting in her tent, under the constant vigilance of Yara and Shen-zoan, remaining permanently at her side. Grey Worm continued to supervise guard patrols around the camp, while in another nearby tent, Joreas had been brought. Lady Kinvara stayed with the young dragon and tried to do everything possible to keep him alive. Joreas did not move, his eyes closed and his breathing was very weak. The venom of Manticore was reputed to have no cure. A human would have succumbed to this poison for a long time, but as a dragon, Joreas was more resistant, but if nothing was done, he would eventually die too. Kneeling at the side of the dying dragon and knowing that no medicinal remedy could relieve him, Kinvara thought for a long time, and came to the conclusion that there was only one thing to save the new son of the queen .. ..This had to be done ..... she was aware of it, but had been prepared all her life for that, and the time had come ....  
As Daenerys slept soundly, safe under her fur protecting her from the cool night, Yara sat on a chair, waiting without saying anything and, to pass the time, sharpened her ax. Sitting in front of her, Shen-zoan had been busy for almost an hour drawing something on a sheet of parchment. Yara had been watching him for a while, not daring to disturb him because he was very focused on his work, but finally decided to call him.  
_"What are you doing?" she asked, curious. Shen-zoan smiled, putting down his pen and revealing what he was doing. Yara was admiring and smiled too. A black ink portrait of Queen Daenerys, proud and triumphant, Joreas and Mirrandes at her feet, looking in the same direction as their mother, and behind them, Drogon, giant and majestic, roaring and spreading his wings. Shen gave Yara the picture so she could see it more closely and was amazed at the detail and precision.  
_ "I knew you were an artist, Shen-zoan, but not at this point." Yara complimented. Shen thanked her with a humble nod.  
_"Let's say that..." replied Yi Ti's man, "I try to find other talents than to inflict blows on others. I do not to be remembered as a warrior, but as a simple man seeking to live his passions and bring a little beauty and poetry to this world that badly needs it."  
Faced with this profound revelation, Shen unveiled other drawings of his bag, which he had secretly made during his journey with his allies. Yara saw them all, one by one .... a portrait of Lady Kinvara and the Fiery Hand warriors .... a drawing of Grey Worm and the unsullied .... drawings of the landscapes of Asshai, the Dothraki Sea .... and also, a portrait of Yara, proud and warrior in her armor and brandishing her weapons with force. Yara was personally touched, internally, while Shen offered her this last drawing, insisting that she keep it.  
_ "Thanks, Shen ...." Yara said as she rolled the drawing to put it in her satchel "... you're a good person. My brother Theon would surely have appreciated you."  
Shen felt in the tone of voice of the young woman at the mention of her brother, melancholy more than palpable. He guessed no problem that Theon was no longer in this world and she had suffered a lot. She still blamed herself for not having been with him at Winterfell, to help him. As if to change the subject, Yara, biting her lip gently, turned her attention to Daenerys, still asleep, carefully watching each line on her face and each strand of her silvery hair.  
_ "I really hope that her dragon will survive ..... she has already lost so much, it must stop."  
Shen nodded, agreeing with her, and silently praying that Kinvara could find a solution. He also felt the tone with which Yara spoke about the queen. A semblance of attachment, but much stronger than a simple friendship, even if she seemed to want to conceal it, as if she forbade to herself.  
_ "You like her, do not you?" Shen said to break the silence. Yara was a little embarrassed. She can not express it. It is true that during her first meeting with the mother of dragons, Yara could not help but find her very beautiful, and even told her that she never demand but was open to any proposal. Daenerys did not seem too insensitive to her, at least that's what she said to herself.  
_ "She is the queen to whom I have lent allegiance. Thanks to her, I was able to reconquer the islands that saw me born and take the throne that came back to me right ... and what have I done In return? I didn't know how to be there when she needed it, and she died of it ..... I don't want her to relive that anymore."  
A thin red glow suddenly appeared outside the opening of the tent, interrupting the conversation between the two. A fine smell of burnt wood permeated the air.  
_"Joreas ..." mumbled suddenly Daenerys, who had just come out of her sleep and rubbed her eyes, looked a little troubled. Yara and Shen came to her to make sure she was fine. Outside, Drogon seemed to be agitated and growling more and more.  
_ "My queen, you should ....." Shen started, but interrupted by Daenerys leaning on his shoulder.  
_ "I must see what happens ....." was the decision of the young Queen Targaryen. Obeying, Yara and Shen escorted her outside the tent, and what they saw confused them. In the middle of the camp, under the eyes of all, Kinvara had Joreas placed on a blanket of woven linen, and the Fiery Hand warriors were tracing all around him, a runic-like circle drawn with blood, the blood of Lady Kinvara who had just cut the palm of her hand with a dagger. With her thumb stained with her own blood, the red priestess traced a line on her forehead, while chanting between her lips a few words in Valyrian. Around her, Grey Worm, the unsullied and the dothrakis watched without doing anything, although the dothrakis showed some worrying in front of what was being prepared. Daenerys recognized this look, as well as this practice she had seen before. A ritual of blood magic, a magic considered prohibited and too dangerous.  
_ "Lady Kinvara ...... what are you doing?!" Daenerys asked expressly, stepping forward, still escorted by her two friends as interrogative as she was. Joreas moaned softly, still alive, but weaker and weaker. Kinvara turned to the queen, showing her a more than determined look.  
_ "There is no other choice, my queen .... You know just like me that only a death can redeem a life ...."  
Daenerys, Yara and Shen were afraid to understand what she meant by that. Daenerys shook his head in a formal objection.  
_ "No .... no, you can't ..... you saved my life! I need you!!" protested the Targaryen queen, holding back the priestess's wrist, who, though determined to go all the way, smiled at the compassion of her queen. Gently, she came to touch Daenerys's cheek.  
_ "This is the master of light you need, my queen, not me .... I was only a servant sent to serve his purposes and allow his chosen one to fulfill her destiny ... My role is now over."  
_ "I have already lost too much .... I don't want to relive that!!" Daenerys insisted, gritting her teeth.  
_"You'll never be alone again, Daenerys stormborn ..." Kinvara replied, looking for a moment at Yara, staring at her for a few seconds. The ironborn queen did not dare say anything, the eyes of the priestess of R'hllor harpooning hers. Not knowing what else to say, Daenerys let go and walked back to Yara and Shen, who came to support her.  
The dagger in hand, Kinvara turned to the blood circle and Joreas again, and continued her incantations, her voice coming louder and louder in the night without stars. The red stone of her necklace shone louder and louder, like a red flame rising inside. At the feet of the priestess, the young dragon groaned more and more, as it invaded from all sides by invisible waves and a great power. Once in the center of the blood circle with Joreas, Kinvara dropped a drop of her blood on the circle, which under the eyes of all, ignited, giving birth to a circle of roaring flames around the dragon and the priestess. The dothrakis and the ironborns back away, frightened, while Grey Worm and the unsullied and the soldiers of the Fiery Hand remained static, observing in silence. Clenching her teeth, Daenerys could not take her eyes off the ritual, seeing Joreas wincing more and more as if he were seized with violent convulsions and roaring with excruciating pain. Drogon was more agitated, still roaring and wanting to go to his younger brother. Daenerys reached Drogon and tried to calm him as much as she could, caressing his muzzle.  
While chanting the ritual words louder and louder, Kinvara lifted the dagger over her head, and in a final effort, cut her own veins, letting her blood flow laden with magic on the young dragon's body. At this point, the flames of the circle intensified, thicker, for several long seconds, before finally reducing themselves to disappear completely, leaving only a volute of gray smoke escaping into the air. Once the wall of flames dissipated, all could see what had happened.  
Kinvara had collapsed on the floor next to Joreas and was not moving anymore. Daenerys hurried to the middle of the circle, falling on her knees near the two bodies. With a beating heart, she was relieved to see Joreas opening his eyes, his breathing gradually returning to normal and giving a groan to his mother as he saw her. Daenerys then turned to Kinvara, who, although she had lost almost all her blood, was still alive, but hardly breathing anymore. Daenerys would have liked it to be otherwise, but once again, felt indebted to the priestess for what she had done.  
_"I ... I will make sure your sacrifice was not in vain, Lady Kinvara ..... I promise you ...." Daenerys said, her throat knotted. She took the hand of the priestess in hers, and would hold it to stay with her in her last moments. Kinvara smiled faintly, not regretting that gesture knowing in advance that she would have to do it by the will of her master.  
_ "Valar Morghulis ....." Kinvara said softly to the young queen, who knew what those words meant.  
_ "Valar Dohaeris ...." replied Daenerys. "VALAR DOHAERIS!" in unison, Grey Worm, the unsullied and the soldiers of the Fiery Hand, who all knelt to salute the sacrifice of the priestess. Shen and Yara stared without saying anything, but supported the sacrifice of the red priestess in their own way, kneeling down too.  
After a last smile, as if falling asleep, Kinvara closes her eyelids, letting her lips breathe what would be her last breath. Her hand stiffened in Daenerys's, indicating to her that it was over .... Kinvara, the high priestess of Volantis, had left, having gone to join her master in the eternal flames. Overwhelmed by the loss of the woman who allowed her return to life, Daenerys could only shed a tear, lowering her head and placing her palm on Kinvara's forehead as a sign of mourning, while Drogon, Mirrandes and Joreas, the latter now healed by the sacrifice of Kinvara, approached their mother and came to support her, uttering little rumblings of lamentations resounding in the night and announcing wherever they floated, the sacrifice of the high priestess of R'hllor.


	12. Part 12

Essos, Dothraki Sea

As was the custom, Kinvara's body was cremated at a funeral pyre, at a ceremony where Queen Daenerys and each of her allies paid silent but sincere homage to the late priestess, who, knowing what would arrive, had accepted her fate in order to save the life of one of the dragons. Daenerys could never forget this sacrifice to save one of her sons, and would do everything in her power so that the death of Kinvara was not in vain. The necklace of Kinvara had been removed from her, and according to the custom of the cult of R'hllor, the object was taken back to Volantis by the guards of the Fiery Hand, in order to be given to the successor of Lady Kinvara who would then see baptized new high priest or high priestess of Volantis. The ashes of Kinvara were not locked up to remain a prisoner of an urn but allowed the east wind to disperse them, so that her body and her soul could forever live free forever.

From this sacrifice Joreas could have come back, alive and well, and rid of all traces of the venom of Manticore that was eating him. It was as if the poison had evaporated from his body, and maybe that was the case? The powers of the Master of Light were very mysterious, and yet so real to judge by what she had seen in recent months.  
Not far from the dothraki camp, by an early afternoon in the pleasant warmth of the sun and in the middle of the tall and wild grass dancing in the wind of the East, Daenerys sat on a large rock, leaving the heat cover her and the wind caress her face and her hair. Joreas was with her, sleepy, his head resting on his mother's lap and also let the star of the day warm up his brown scales. Delicately and without pulling him out of his torpor, Daenerys, pensive, caressed the neck of her young dragon, spending a lot of time with him for the past few days, making sure that he regains his strength, that he eat well and manages to to sleep. Drogon and Mirrandes had also been very concerned about the health of their younger brother, and Drogon, as protector and big brother he was, remained permanently close to the other two, almost playing the role of father.

Mirrandes fluttered in the azure sky a few dozen meters above the plain and seemed to bring something between her mighty claws. She dropped not far from the rock what looked like the bloody carcass of a wild ram. Alerted by the sound of the carcass falling on the ground and the smell of blood, Joreas raised his head in a hungry roar, and Daenerys watched him move toward the dead animal, while Mirrandes joined him for the feast. Although a little disgusted by the strong smell of blood and fresh flesh nearby, Daenerys can only be reassured to see her two new children dragons eat with appetite, grabbing large shreds of bloody flesh between their jaws. Although very young, they were already as formidable as adult beasts. This prey being too small for him, Drogon remained behind, lying peacefully in the tall grass and while letting the sun's rays warm his giant body, watched his younger brother and younger sister feasting on their prey. Still sitting on the rock, Daenerys began to close her eyes and looked up at the sky, letting the afternoon heat again overwhelm her.

Recently, she had received news. Shortly after her departure for Westeros, the slavers had managed in the utmost secrecy to reform their coalition and one by one, had taken over the cities liberated by the young queen, enslaving the poor again and reforming their vast and horrific slavery empire of Slaver's Bay. This news, though not surprising, had plunged the queen into deep anger. Other rumors coming from Volantis's neighboring countries were that the Golden Company, or at least what was left of it, had fallen into disgrace after the fiasco of King's Landing, and that the warriors who still composed it found without contracts. No news of any kind came from Westeros, and for Daenerys it was not worse. Never again did she want to hear about this damn West land.

Apart from news from different countries, Daenerys continued to make dreams for the least singular. One in particular marked her. She was always alone, in a huge dark space, cold and desolate, in the middle of which stands a gigantic barral asleep, and each time, the screams of the crow resound, coming to surround her from all sides while three terrifying blue eyes are born of the gnarly bark of the barral, disemboweling it in a flood of blood and darkness and harpooning the young woman with their monstrous irises. While she thinks herself at the mercy of this nascent monstrosity eager to devour her, the fiery and protective flames interpose, and from them emanates a great dragon with incandescent eyes, roaring against the abomination of darkness and hindering him.

_ "I would not like to be at the place of this dead animal." suddenly commented on a familiar voice approaching the rock. It was Yara. Daenerys smiled slightly at her coming and let her come to contemplate the feast of the two dragons, having turned the ram into a real bloody puzzle. Yara leaned against the rock, before talking to the queen again.

_ "With all due respect, my queen, you should not be left alone outside the camp, especially with a faceless man in the area."

_ "I'm not alone," Daenerys corrected, pointing to her dragons, who could be just as formidable as a legion of over-armed guards. She scored a point. Yara also noticed that Daenerys seemed to be staring at her while mentioning that she would never be alone.

_ "Speaking of faceless man..." Daenerys said turning to Yara and taking a tone almost suspicious "... Who tells me that you are not the murderer who took the face of Yara to approach without arousing suspicion?"

Yara showed a smile, almost amused, and looked at the queen straight in the eye.

_ "In that case, what are you waiting for to order your dragons to tear me to pieces, or to burn me to ashes?" Yara asked, almost defiantly. Daenerys said nothing, but recognized that Yara's nerve was not displeasing to her. She liked to see women with a strong character, like her.

_ "Maybe I should ..... but no ...... I'm tired of losing the people who matter to me."

_ "That's the weight for all the leaders, without exception ..." Yara told her as she approached and came to sit next to her. Daenerys let her go, still listening to her. "... I could not even be there to help my brother Theon during the Battle of Winterfell. I let him go, hoping he would come back .... and he sacrificed his life for a family that only used him."

Daenerys knew what family she was referring to, which gave her a bitter taste in her mouth, as well as a deep feeling of sadness across her throat. Daenerys' hand gently took Yara's hand, forcing Yara to look at the dragon queen in her eyes.

_ "I didn't know your brother very well, but he had appeared to me to be a noble and honorable man, just like you. The alliance of our two houses is one of the best things I could ever do. The dragon and the kraken, united against their common enemies."

With these words, she had tightened her grip on Yara's hand, symbolizing that strength and union that survived through them. Yara remained silent, but she understood Queen Targaryen's words very well and nodded forcefully. Reassured, Daenerys rose from the rock, falling to her feet on the soft ground, and began to move away, before giving a final order to the queen-born.

_ "Meet me behind my tent, in a few minutes, with your armor and your weapons."

*********  
As requested, Yara made her way to the khaleesi tent, with her armor with the kraken's coat of arms on her breastplate, and her belt, ax and sword. A little puzzled by the Daenerys order, she did not say anything to Shen or Grey Worm. Going around the tent to get behind, Yara found herself in front of Daenerys, who was waiting for him.

Queen Targaryen stood there, wearing a dothraki leather outfit, like that of the warriors, and holding in her hand her sword with the gleaming blade that was given to her in the flames and judging by her look, was determined to make use of it. Yara raised an eyebrow.

_ "Majesty?"

_ "Why did I lose everyone I loved, Yara? Tell me why?" asked Daenerys, which Yara did not know what to say. "Because I was not strong enough ..." Daenerys completed "... but today you're going to help me become one, you're an ironborn, the first queen of the iron islands, a true warrior .... Train me to sword fighting."

Yara had heard it well. By the determined tone of her voice and look, she knew she was more than serious.

_ "Is this an order, my queen?" Yara asked one last time, as if to tell her if she was sure of what she wanted. Daenerys's look was enough to make her understand the answer. Yara pulled off her gray cloak, dropping it to the ground and taking her iron sword in hand, making a few nimble reels with and coming in front of Daenerys.

_ "First, show me how you position yourself."

Daenerys executed herself, and holding her sword in her right hand, placed her right leg back and her left leg forward. Yara examined carefully.

_ "Watch your feet." she said pointing to the bottom. Daenerys lowered her eyes to see, and suddenly felt the cold tip of Yara's blade come to touch her chin. Daenerys then looked up at her and Yara made him understand by the look she had made a mistake.

_ "First lesson ...." said the iron queen "... never lose sight of your opponent ... One look elsewhere, one second of inattention, and you are dead."

Daenerys nodded and Yara pulled her blade away, stepping back several steps and firmly grasping the handle of her weapon, staring at Queen Targaryen.

_ "Now, attack me." Yara asked simply with conviction. Daenerys took a deep breath, gripping her sword with both hands, and darted for a smoky first hit, which Yara countered very easily. The two blades clashed in a thud, giving rise to a few sparks. The sword was neither too big nor too small and seemed perfectly suited to the handling of the dragon queen, as if it had been fashioned for her and her alone.

 Daenerys then attempted further attacks on the flanks, but Yara avoided them or all of them with her blade, even tripping the dragon queen to the ground, disarming her and blocking her on the ground. But as Yara reached out to Daenerys to help her get up, she was thrown to the ground of the young Targaryen woman who took advantage of the opportunity, picking up her sword and in turn, blocked Yara on the floor leaning over her.

_ "I see you are learning fast, majesty." Yara said, unable to stop herself from sketching a smile.

Daenerys smiles too, proud of her little trick. The two women remained silent for a few seconds, looking into each other's eyes, and Yara could only see that Daenerys was now leaning over her. Finally, too, and seeing the semblance of embarrassment over the sudden flush of Yara's face, Daenerys withdrew, a little embarrassed too, and her cheeks tinged with a slight purple.

_ "I .... uh ..... let's continue, please." said Daenerys, to change the subject and put an end to this somewhat heavy silence. Seeing the queen brandishing her sword again in front of her, Yara straightened up, picking up her weapon and gladly joining the next lesson.

**********  
In the evening, as the sky of the Dothraki Sea was painted red twilight, Daenerys had returned to his tent, after long hours of training with Yara. The body invaded with aches, the young queen wanted to relax and had a bath in the small bathtub that was available to her. Leaving her dusty clothes, laying the sword and its sheath on the bed, and detaching her long silvery hair falling like a waterfall on her shoulders and the top of her back, Daenerys entered the hot and steaming water, without fear of the slightest burn, and sits peacefully, letting her muscles and mind relax after such a day. A young girl, Mira, formerly captured by the dothrakis and originally from the fishing village who was attacked, was proposed as a new servant of the khaleesi, which the latter accepted, promising the girl that she would never treat her as a slave.

Bringing a chalice filled with hot water, the young maid poured it into the bathtub, adding a little more steam, and then came to wash the hair of Daenerys, the long, silky silver hair dripping with drops.

_ "Mira ....." Daenerys asked, keeping her eyes closed while her new maid was washing her hair ".... I've never asked you before, but why did you wanted to become my maid? Don't believe that your company displeases me, on the contrary, but nothing compelled you to do it."

The young Mira smiled shyly while spinning a strand of silver hair and letting the water flow into the container underneath.

_ "My parents often told me the story of this young and mysterious silver-haired queen, shining like a sun, who arrived one day, from nowhere, at the head of a large and powerful army of former slaves and with her three majestic dragons born from stone and fire .... One by one, she released the cities from the hold of slave masters, bringing a semblance of hope to those who had all their lives treated worse than animals ..... it was as the priests and priestesses of R'hllor once said: the one born from fire and ashes, the one who was promised by the master of light, would one day bring down her judgment on the culprits and build a better world."

Daenerys opened her eyes, listening to every word that was spoken by Mira, who said it like a girl who likes to tell her favorite story. Daenerys was touched, internally. If she had been able to give hope to young children, like Mira, she had to pursue this path, as the master of light had shown her.

_ "And ... where are your parents now?" asked Daenerys again. The question gently made Mira grimace, and the queen guessed that she had just opened a more sensitive subject.

_ "My mother died two years ago by a high fever, and my father lost his life when the dothrakis attacked our village. Their khal, the one your majesty reduced to ashes with her dragon, which decapitated my father and forced me to look."

Onro. It's about him she was talking about. It also reinforced Daenerys' conviction of putting a definitive end to this monster's actions.

Now that she has finally rallied her khalasar, strengthening her new army with the help of unsullied, ironborns and R'hllor faithful, Daenerys may soon be focusing on her new and primary goal: the reconquest of Slaver's Bay and the final eradication of the slave empire. She thought for a moment about the mercenaries in disgrace of the remains of the Golde Company, and their war elephants, who had remained in Essos. Extra troops would not be too much, she told herself while being washed.

**********

Westeros, King's Landing

A fine rain of flakes had begun to fall on the silent capital of the six kingdoms .... A gray sky invaded by black clouds had chased the sunlight as well as the heat of the summer for a macabre and biting coldness. Accompanying the snow, a polar wind had risen, coming from nowhere.

In the streets of King's Landing, no noise was heard, not even the breath of a person ..... Blood and death permeated every part of the city. Slowly advancing and gathering in hordes more and more important, civilians and soldiers, men, women and children, all formerly human but now reduced to blue-eyed cadaveric puppets, crossed the devastated and dead streets of the capital, all heading towards the great gates. At the head of this gigantic new army of the living dead, Bran advanced, his ice skin streaked with veinlets having completely covered his face like the rest of his body, his blue eyes shining in the darkness rising around him, and thin ice horns having begun to grow on his forehead. Among the first deaths that followed him were Bronn and Ser Davos, who were also transformed.

Followed by his new army, Bran, or the new Night King, looked in front of him and made his slow but determined step towards north, apparently determined to reach the place of the defeat that saw his death: Winterfell.


	13. Part 13

Westeros, beyond the wall

_ "Wait until I understand ... you want to go back to Winterfell to make sure everything is fine, just because you've had a nightmare?"

Tormund was more than perplexed as he saw his friend Jon, busy preparing a package in his tent, under the somewhat perplexed look of Ghost. Jon sighed as he rolled a fur so he could hang it from his bag and turned to his wildling friend.

_ "I know what I saw, Tormund ..." he said morosely "... It was not just a dream, I have the presentiment ...."

He kept thinking about it. Last night, a new nightmare than the perpetual assassination of Daenerys had come to fall in his mind, almost like a warning sent by some superior and invisible force. He had seen it as clear as crystal. Winterfell, reduced to the state of dormant ruin, black columns of smoke rising from behind the ramparts, the devastated streets and buildings, and above all, no survivors .... a real bloodshed, a bloodbath and tripe ..... and Sansa, cornered against a wall, isolated and helpless, in tears and trembling like a leaf, pleading with all her strength to a threatening shadow advancing slowly towards her, and coming to seize her cruelly to the throat .... a somewhat familiar shade, with two glowing blue eyes .....

_ "In this case, I'm coming with you." suddenly said Tormund, decided. Jon smiled but did not want to impose that on his friend.

_ "You don't have to come with me, I can do it alone."

_ "You know nothing, douchebag ..." Tormund laughed, giving him a strong but friendly pat on the shoulder "... I'm coming with you, whether you like it or not. And I'm not the only one.... "

He invited Jon out of the tent, to see outside a small group of other wildlings, all veteran hunters and warriors, having volunteered. Among the group was a particular member, especially in size. Mahr Gath Wuz Mahr Geth, or Mahr simply, a young giant, a female specifically, one of the few to have escaped the scourge of the Night King, and who joined very recently the group of wildlings when she had nowhere to go, her entire family having been killed by the white walkers. Her companion had also been killed by the ice creatures trying to protect her while their encampment was assaulted.

Dressed in animal leather clothing and furs at her size, sporting long, dusty black hair, small ears slightly twisted and pointed at the ends, a bony ridge above the eyes, and a hairless face and two wild brown eyes, Mahr looked almost like a giant teenager and was a little smaller than Wun Wun, whom she knew by the way and was very sad to hear about his death from Tormund's mouth. Jon had already met giants before, and had even made an alliance with the late Wun Wun, but it was the first time he saw a female of this people. He had however accept without problem the young giant in the camp. Mahr had quickly proved being a good huntress, despite her young age, knowing all the tactics to hunt in the best conditions, and her size and colossal strength were also very useful talents. Her equipment was not left out, constituting a bow made with a mammoth bone, arrows as large as javelins, and a sword whose blade as large as an adult man, had been forged by her with iron of poor quality but nevertheless very sharp, that she handled with a formidable force. Arriving to speak a few words of the human language, which she had learned while listening to the wildlings talk among themselves, Mahr had told Tormund to have learned how to handle weapons with Mag the mighty himself.

The wildlings departed respectfully as Mahr stomped forward, just ahead of Jon and Tormund, who nodded to her. On her shoulder, Mahr was holding a large sack of old cloth, containing her provisions and big enough to hold a whole adult man.

_ "Tormund .... Snow ...." Mahr pronounced in her feminine but still very cavernous voice, before showing a semblance of a smile and left to prepare for the departure. Jon accepted the arrival of this small group with him. Although trying to look pleased that his friends came with him, the young man was still haunted by this nightmare more than realistic, and that made him fear the worst for what was going to happen.

 

Essos, near Volantis

Good for nothing ..... shabby ..... garbage ..... these are the words he now heard every time he went somewhere to hope to find any contracts for him and his men. Cade was sick, furious, all mixed up in his mind in an invisible and foul molasses. At the age of 20, with his long, dark brown hair, green eyes and nascent beard. Inexperienced, he found himself hoisted one day to the rank of captain of the Golden Company, or at least some miserable remains that remained. As the second of Harry Strickland who trained him to become the new big captain of the company, Cade had heard of the fiasco that had occurred in Westeros, like many others. All the most seasoned and experienced men, killed in a few seconds, and Harry Strickland himself had not survived. The most powerful and prestigious army of mercenaries in the world, annihilated in a few moments like vulgar amateurs. Just thinking about it made Cade even more depressed and made him cringe.

After a final failure to seek contracts with Volantis, the disgraced young captain joined the wretched camp he and his men had set up in the midst of wild grass hills not far from the city. A little less than five hundred men, scattered in white tents, in a moribund silence that would have passed a crypt for a crazy party place. Locked in his golden captain's armor, Cade was walking among the tents, his men as depressed as he was, giving him brief glances and some reserved salutes. He also went to see the last ten remaining war elephants, locked in their pens and busy eating. Since they became increasingly degraded, the company had been forced to resell several of their war elephants in order to earn some money, but many of the remaining mercenaries had chosen to leave, considering that the Golden Company was dead. Only the most loyal had stayed with Cade, and he thanked them for that. He, the son of a slave, who at the age of six was sold to the company and in a way adopted by Harry Strickland, who saw in him the potential to become a leader.

"A leader?" Cade thought of it again, and seeing the miserable condition of the encampment of which he was the so-called leader, he almost wanted to laugh. Entering his tent in the middle of the camp, taking off his gloves and throwing them almost to the ground, he dropped into his chair behind his little desk, rubbing his eyes, blowing with fatigue. A man from the company entered the tent.

_"Captain?"

_ "What? What did you imagine?" Cade answered curtly, "... the same thing, no one wants to hire us, or even respect us!"

_ "Captain ..." the man insisted, not being offended by the almost aggressive tone of his captain towards him. "... you are summoned to the temple of Volantis, by the high priest himself, saying that a very important person must meet you."

_ "Who? And what can red priests want from me?" Cade asked, raising an eyebrow. The other mercenary shrugged slightly.

_ "I don't know, but he's asking you to come unarmed."

Cade was suspicious, and with good reason. Why should these strange priests and priestesses venerating a god of fire and light want to speak to him, a mere captain of a troop in perdition? He could refuse the invitation, but on the other hand, his instinct and curiosity drove him to go and see. And then, seeing what conditions he lived in, what more did he have to lose? He accepted the proposal and got up from his seat to get out of the tent and prepare his horse.

It took only a little less than an hour for Cade to reach the great temple of Volantis, after having crossed the city. The young captain, his white cape floating behind him in the light wind, set foot on the ground, to be welcomed at the entrance of the temple by two servants of R'hllor, one of them taking charge of driving the horse at the stable, and the other humbly demanding Cade to follow him up the many beautifully carved steps leading to the first imposing building of the religious building. As agreed, he had come unarmed, having left his sword at the camp, in his tent.

But as he climbed the steps in following the servant, Cade was suddenly surprised to see the light of day suddenly fall, and a giant shadow covering him. Looking up, he was flabbergasted by what he saw. A black dragon with dark scarlet wings, gigantic and uttering a titanic roar, was flying just above the temple, describing large arches in the air. Two more dragons flew with him, much smaller, but seemed to follow him as their leader. Cade remained paralyzed in front of this vision, which he thought at first to be a hallucination, but saw the servant also look towards the creatures, but did not seem at all surprised or intimidated.

_ "But .... but what does that mean?" Cade asked, unable to look away from the dragon.

_ "Come ..." the temple servant answered, bowing. "... she's waiting for you."

She? Who could be this "she"? Cade was more and more perplexed, but decided to continue. He followed the servant through many corridors and rooms of varying size, all bathed in that heavy and mystical atmosphere, as palpable as the air he breathed. He heard the echoes of prayers and other religious songs echoing through the walls of this giant temple, and it made him shudder.

Finally, the servant pushed two large doors decorated with flames and stepped aside to let the captain pass. Cade walked slowly and cautiously into this room, to find himself before another vision he never thought he would see one day and left him speechless.

In this large room with frescoes of flames covering the great majority of the walls, as well as two large braziers on each side, dancing with their scarlet flames, stood several people whom he did not know, all looking at him in silence.

At the foot of a large staircase of marble steps stood two men. The first was a thin man with a matte skin, very short hair and a stern face, standing upright like a statue, with his hands behind his back and wearing the very recognizable unsullied uniform, which Cade had seen many times before, knowing their reputation as great soldiers. The other man had a pale yellowish skin, slanted eyes, hair and a black goatee. He wore a dark blue tunic, a conical hat on his head, and held a large, supple wooden stick in his hand.

At the top of the steps was a bald, pale-skinned, tattooed-faced man with the characteristic outfit of a Rh'llor priest. Beside him, a young woman with brown hair and a warrior look, dressed in an armor whose symbol represented a kraken, a large gray coat, and a sword at the waist. A young female teenager with long, black hair, in a sky-blue dress stood straight and silent, and in the center, sitting on a chair, stood the person who caught Cade's attention the most. A gorgeous young woman with purple eyes and long, silver hair as a ponytail falling on her neck and wearing a long white silk dress and a silver dragon-shaped necklace around her neck. Her face remained closed, but she showed no sign of aggression towards Cade. Her gaze was filled with great strength and unparalleled determination, he could clearly guess it.

_ "You are in the presence of Daenerys stormborn, of house Targaryen ...." proclaimed the young teenager girl, who appeared to be her maid "... chosen one of the master of light, great khaleesi of the grassy sea, breaker of chains and mothers of dragons."

Daenerys Targaryen? Breaker of chains? The mother of dragons? Cade remembered having already heard of her, and of her war against the slavery empire of Slaver's Bay, which had been much talked about. He had also heard, through the mouth of one of the very few survivors of the company who had been able to join Essos after the massacre in King's Landing, that it was she and her big black dragon who had effortlessly swept the whole troop of Harry Strickland.

_ "You can approach, Captain Cade." Daenerys said without hostility. Cade swallowed, feeling a few drops running down his forehead and an irresistible urge to escape. But after reflection, he walked to the foot of the steps, between Grey Worm and Shen-Zoan, and having been educated, decided to bow respectfully to the mother of the dragons.

_ "I feel you're nervous, Captain Cade. Don't worry, I don't want you any harm." said Daenerys, having guessed on the young man's face, the stress that was invading him and that he was trying to conceal.

_ "It's just that ...." Cade replied "... your name is known to everyone now, ma'am, and in our company in particular, especially since what happened in Westeros, as you know. .... "

_ "Yes," Daenerys answered at once, without anger in her voice, "Queen Cersei had engaged the Golden Company to defend her interests, but unfortunately they were not very effective against Drogon. But very few creatures in this world can stand against the dragons in terms of power."

_ "Know, ma'am," said Cade, standing upright "... that Harry Strickland was a good man. He was like the father I never had and trained me to become the new captain after his death ... you imagine, I, a wretched little orphan from the slums of Braavos, destined to become the captain of the largest army of mercenaries in the world? It's true, the Golden Company has always sold at the most offering, this is the principle of every good self-respecting mercenary."

Daenerys felt the pride of those words when he spoke of this Harry Strickland and the Company. He was devoted to it, body and soul. Such determination for such a young man made her smile.

_ "It is true that you have destroyed our Company," Cade said, looking at the Targaryen girl straight in the eye, without fear "... but if your goal is to finish what you started, then kill me without further delay."

He seemed more than sincere in saying that, preparing for her to order Grey Worm to kill him with a dagger. But after long seconds of silence, she did nothing, just scratching her chin.

_ "You are mistaken, captain ...." she said simply ".... why would I want you dead? You didn't cause me any harm. I didn't bring you here to to kill you .... on the contrary .... I invite you and your men to join me."

_ "J .... join?" Cade raised an eyebrow, shared between the relief of not dying today and the curiosity of this request. Daenerys nodded slowly. Rising from her seat without a word, she walked down the stairs, escorted by Yara, to go down to Cade's level and stand right in front of him. She seemed to examine with her eyes the armor in pitiful condition of Cade.

_ "I got warned of your situation ..." says Daenerys "... the reputation of the Golden Company has gone up in smoke. No one wants to give you any contracts, and what remains of your army is agony .... I know that I'm the main one responsible, but what should I have done? Let the Golden Company decimate my troops and kill my dragon without reacting?... Captain Harry Strickland had the bad idea to sell himself to the wrong person ..... But you, Cade, I know you will not make the same mistake .... If you join me, you will never have need contracts to make a living and I'll make you the first captain of my new Knights Order."

Cade did not know what to say, shared between his attachment to what Harry Strickland and the Golden Company had brought him, and the desire to revive the army he had grown up in all his life .... The situation was more than critical he knew it ... Almost everyone was starving in the camp, and even the reserves for war elephants were falling dangerously .... If he did nothing, all would be dead at the end of the year. Hesitating between yes and no for long seconds, the young captain yielded.

_ "I accept your offer." was his answer. Daenerys smiled at that, and while Cade was about to kneel down in front of the Targaryen woman, she stopped him in his gesture and simply handed him a hand. Her goal was not to humiliate him, but to make a covenant. Cade then extended his arm, joining it to that of Daenerys, and both thus sealed this new covenant, under the gaze of the master of light. Yara smiled too, nodding to Daenerys that she had done well. However, Cade did not stay there, and placing his fist against the plastron of his armor and kneeling down, pronounced his oath.

_ "I, Cade, captain of the Golden Company, swear on my life and on my sword to serve you, Daenerys Targaryen."

Although she did not ask him, Daenerys was very pleased to see him do so, reinforcing her trust to him. Mira, the young maid, went down the steps and held in her hand a small box of carved wood, which Daenerys opened, revealing inside a small object: a gold brooch, to hung on a cape, and having the shape of a dragon spreading its wings. Taking the object between her fine fingers, Daenerys came to give it to Cade, who took it in his palm, admiring the magnificent work of the object.

_ "Get up ...." Daenerys proclaimed with a smile ".... Ser Cade, first captain of the Order of the Golden Dragons."


	14. Part 14

Essos, Volantis

Another week had passed. After swearing his oath to the Queen of Dragons, Cade had returned to the Golden Company's encampment to announce the news to his men. Daenerys came in person with him, accompanied by Yara, Grey Worm, and Shen-zoan. She had to be present in order to leave a choice to the former mercenaries: join her or not. She promised them that no harm would be done to them if they refused to join the Order of the Golden Dragons, but in return they should not become obstacles to her. Among the 500 men of Cade, 300 accepted the offer and joined Cade to form the new order of knights created by Daenerys. The 200 remaining men were able to leave, as she had promised, abandoning once and for all their status as mercenaries of the now extinct Golden Company.

With the allegiance of the captain Cade and his 300 men, Daenerys also obtained the 10 war elephants, magnificent and powerful creatures with their own combat armors, which, according to Cade, could only be ridden by the most experienced men of the Company. Fortunately, 10 of the men who had sworn allegiance to all the remaining ones proved to be able to control the elephants. With this heavy cavalry, Daenerys knew that the power of her new army was again increased tenfold, reinforcing her determination to march against the slave empire and free Slaver's Bay again.

Unfortunately, with all the hardships since her return, Daenerys was more and more stressed, almost unable to sleep on certain nights, and still had some nightmares. It was Shen-zoan who humbly offered a cure from his country, Yi Ti, and Daenerys accepted, trusting her friend.

For this, Daenerys was now in a quiet little room of the temple, away from the places of rites so that absolute silence reigns. Having taken off her clothes, wearing only a white towel around her breasts and another to hide her crotch, Daenerys sits on a small wooden table, while Shen-zoan, standing in front of a small desk, took care of open a box taken in his travel bag and containing very small and thin needles. Daenerys shuddered a little as he saw them, raising an eyebrow. Seeing her cautious in front of the needles, Shen-zoan smiled and reassured her.

_ "Do not worry, majesty, it does not hurt."

_ "How do you name this .... special medicine?" asked the young queen.

_ "Acupuncture if I remember, but I think they decided to change the name."

_ "And, what will that do to me?"

_ "Let's say ...." Shen explained, "by punctuating certain specific places of the body, it is possible to realign the energies that compose us, in order to bring back a semblance of balance and harmony in our body. After all you've been through, majesty, I think it can only do you good."

It seemed almost like a kind of mystical rite in Dany's ears, but once again she trusted Shen, who more than once had proved his worth and devotion to her. He never stopped to surprise her. She watched him sometimes wander about his business. Yara, too, talking to Daenerys, sometimes said that Shen spent a lot of time contemplating the landscapes around him, sitting for hours without talking or moving. He was fond of drawing, writing, playing a flute he had brought with him from his country and which formerly belonged to his late master, as well as smoking a grass with a strong but pleasant odor in a wooden pipe.

She had also seen him training a few times, practicing alone this particular and fascinating art of combat, fast movements and incredible precision. She also understood why he was nicknamed "Windwalker" because indeed, the air around him seemed to accompany him and dance around him in his combat movements.

As indicated by the man of Yi Ti, Daenerys lay on her stomach, her bare back lit by the orange glow of the candles lighting the room. Shen first stepped forward, smearing her hands with a lotion of sweet almond scent that nicely caressed Daenerys' nostrils.

_ "A special oil from my country, specially made to increase the efficiency of the circulation of energies in the body during the process ..... Can I, majesty?" he asked again, very humbly. She looked at him and nodded. From the flat of his palms, Shen began to apply the oil to the soft skin of the queen's back. The sudden freshness of the oil made her shudder, but not in an unpleasant way. She also felt the muscles in her back relax slowly. Daenerys, out of the corner of his eye, watched Shen. The man was very concentrated in his task, not allowing himself to be disturbed for a single second by the vision of the half-naked body of the queen. Daenerys admired that also from Shen. His restraint and respect towards women's bodies. She wondered sometimes if he did not prefer men? Or maybe he loved both men and women? Where, then, had his particular teaching in this art of meditation and combat raised him above all this? Did he no longer feel the need for the pleasure of the flesh? So many questions....

_ "Tell me, Shen ...." Daenerys suddenly asked "... now that I remember it, during our meeting, you didn't show any surprise when you saw Drogon."

Shen smiled as he continued to massage the queen's back with the oil and answered with great candor.

_ "If dragons are often described as ferocious and destructive beasts, where I come from, they are seen as spirits with great powers, guardians of nature, both benevolent and capricious. Some of them can bring the moon and the night, others good weather and sun, perpetuating the cycles of days and seasons.... "

_ "Are there any dragons in Yi Ti?" asked Daenerys, her irises shining of a nascent fascination.

_ "I can not say, majesty, I have never seen ..... but some say they heard their singings resound beyond the Mountains of the Morn, in the lands of the far east of Yi Ti. Some even say they have seen them .... tall, majestic, wingless but floating in the air ... their long, slender bodies like snakes dancing over the peaks in the twilight, their scales shining like jade and reflecting the light of the sun and the moon .... "

While listening to this most fascinating story, like a tale, Daenerys set eyes on the little throbbing flame of a candle sitting in front of her, seeing almost the dancing silhouettes of Yi Ti's dragons, hearing almost the distant echoes of their songs in their ears .... Daenerys felt nothing around her, seeing only the candle, the flame forming almost the peaks of the distant mountains of the lands of Yi Ti, the distant and graceful forms great spinning and dancing dragons under the midnight moon ....

Shen-zoan after properly applying the oil, then began to implant the first needle in the back of Daenerys, who does not even react, feeling no pain.

_ "Tell me about Yi Ti, Shen ....." Daenerys said, being all ears and eager to hear more about this legendary but little-known country from the rest of the world. Shen smiled to see the dragon queen's curiosity and was happy to tell her.

_ "A long long time ago, The Maiden Made of Light and the Lion of Night gave birth to an only son, the God-on-Earth, who founded the Great Empire of the Dawn and thus becoming the first god emperor. The empire stretched from the Bones Mountains to the Gray Waster, from the Jade Sea to the Shivering Sea, and the Emperor was traveling in a large palanquin, carved from a single pearl, and carried by one hundred women, the hundred queens of the god emperor."

One hundred queens for one sovereign? Daenerys was more than surprised.

_ "The emperor reigned thus for ten thousand years ...." continued Shen-zoan "... before going to join his ancestors among the stars, and thus leaving his place to his eldest son, the Pearl Emperor, who succeeded him as the new ruler of Yi Ti."

Daenerys listened without losing a word, more than fascinated by what she listened to as Shen continued to place the needles, one by one, with delicacy and precision. A sovereign revered as a god, described as the child of a couple of deities and having reigned supreme for several millennia ..... It seemed too mystical to be true, but after all that she had seen in her life, and having herself been plunged into fire without suffering the least injury, brought back to life by the will of a god of flames and light, the boundary between the world of mortals and that of the magic had become more and more thin ....

_  "I'd like to visit Yi Ti someday ..." Daenerys said softly, feeling the relaxing effects slowly invading his body. Shen understood the young woman's desire, but suddenly seemed less smiling, as if remembering much less happy things.

_ "I'm afraid it's impossible, majesty ..." he said, almost apologetically for having to say "... our country was once a powerful and prosperous empire, but that time is now over ... Today, Yi Ti is nothing more than a war-torn land, divided into several kingdoms, each emperor wanting to establish his dominion over the others, creating even more conflicts...."

Daenerys was sorry for Shen on hearing this. Seeing that the subject had plunged Shen into darker thoughts, she chose not to say anything anymore, not wanting to make him feel more uncomfortable and let him continue his medicinal treatment.

**********  
That night, in the temple of Volantis now plunged into the utmost silence, Daenerys found herself somewhere again, in a place that seemed to her both unknown and familiar.

Dressed in her elegant and light white silk night dress fluttering in the breeze, Daenerys walked in the midst of an infinite field of grass and wild flowers rocked by the wind, under a clear sky without any cloudy presence. She felt good, light, as if freed from a huge weight on her shoulders. Stroking the stems of the grass with her fingertips while walking and feeling the sweetness of the earth beneath her bare feet, the young queen looked around her, wondering where she could be this time, this dream still appearing very real to her this time.

She then noticed, in the middle of this field, an isolated brick dwelling, very well maintained and looking more than familiar. Step by step, Daenerys felt her heart leap when she recognized the house at the red door, where she spent part of her happy childhood. This house so dear to her heart that she wanted to see again at any cost. A pleasant smell came to greet the nostrils of the young woman .... a smell also familiar ..... lemon ...... Looking to his left, she saw there the little lemon tree of her childhood, standing just under one of the windows of the house, that of her room of yore. Daenerys remembered. Every morning she would wake up early to open the window and admire the rising of the new sun while inhaling with interest the sweet smell of lemons growing on the branches. She had always loved this smell, just as she loved lemon to taste. Viserys did not care about all this, only dreaming of one day being able to reconquer the throne of the family. Daenerys, as a child, had never known all that and aspired only to lead a peaceful life. Daenerys sighed, immersed in all these memories as her palm touched the dry trunk of the tree. As she thought about it, she almost wished she had remained the innocent and dreamy girl, to stay away from all the conflicts and power games that had brought her so much suffering and led her to death. She picks a lemon on one of the lower branches, probing her skin and sniffing her scent. She wanted to eat in, to remember a little more of her happy memories ....

_ "Daenērys Targārien ....."

Daenerys froze as the echo of that disembodied voice in Upper Valyrian crossed her, wringing a shiver through her body, dropping the lemon at her feet. The wild grasses also shivered in the violent squall that suddenly arose. Daenerys turned to see anxiously the red door of the house slowly open in a loud grinding.

_ "Māzigon isse ...."

The ghostly voice came from inside and invited him in. Daenerys recognized that voice. She had heard it many times, the first was during the ritual that brought her back to life. While she was still in the arms of death, that voice had called her, pulling her out of the clutches of death. As if attracted by this voice and not being able to resist, Daenerys advanced to the red door and entered the enclosure of the house, in a room of darkness as opaque as ink. Once in, the door slammed shut behind her, making her jump, blocking any possibility of going back.

The darkness vanished and Daenerys was now standing in the middle of a totally different place and this time, plunged her into memories far more painful ... Winterfell! She was in the middle of the courtyard of the Winterfell castle, very much recognizing the place and feeling the biting snow beneath her feet this time. The beating and breathing heart growing louder and louder, Daenerys looked around her without seeing a living soul.

Winterfell was a ruin, swept by the winds from the north making crack the wood of the foundations and the snow gradually covering the buildings with its thick white coat. The only sounds heard were those of crows roosting on the rooftops and jabbering incessantly. Daenerys wanted to take a step, and felt under her foot the texture of a fabric. Looking down, she saw a more than recognizable banner, the Stark Wolf, half buried in the snow but also slashed in half. Daenerys swallowed, contemplating this ghostly domain. What could have happened here? An icy wind enveloped her, forcing her to curl her arms around her body to protect herself, her silk dress not protecting her from the polar temperature that reigned. Quickly, she ran to take refuge inside the first building, before finishing frozen.

She came in, barring the door to keep the cold out. But turning around, she gasped in horror, paralyzed on the spot. In front of her was the great Hall of Winterfell, devastated, the tables and chairs upside down, the slabs of stone walls and soil impregnated with pool of blood .... but most of all, several bodies, nailed to the walls like butterflies in the window of a collector, and around them spirals made with bloody human limbs. Among the dead bodies, Daenerys recognized them all .... Jorah, Missandei, the head of Rhaegal, Grey Worm, Shen-zoan, Cade, Jon Snow ..... there they were, dead, disemboweled like animals, their blood having spread at their feet .....

_ "NOOOOOO! NOOOOO! NOOOOO!!" Daenerys fell on her knees before them, screaming, shedding tears and pounding the ground with her little fists. She was tired of these horror visions, of all that, she could not stand it anymore. When will the gods stop tormenting her? What an odious message did they want to tell her?

The big chimney in Winterfell's room suddenly glowed in incandescent flames, surprising Daenerys who stopped crying, staring at something in particular. In front of the fireplace, the back in front of Daenerys on a large seat, a dark figure was sitting, the fingers of his shady hands gently patting the wood of the chair. She seemed wrapped in a sort of very long coat of shadows, a raised hood hiding the head. Daenerys felt immediately crushed by that presence whose aura had suddenly invaded the room, plunging it into a great darkness and only the flames coming to bring light.

Very slowly, Daenerys went to her feet, tears drying on her cheeks and without looking away from the shadow sitting in the seat and at no time seemed to pay attention to her. Daenerys wanted to take a step towards her, but was restrained by an immense and invisible force, preventing him from approaching this person, or rather, that thing whose mere physical presence was enough to make her shudder.

_ "Konīr ao māstan naejot nyke, ñuha kivio mēre."

You have finally come to me, my chosen one. Daenerys understood what he was saying, but recognized again the voice that made her eardrums and skull shake, much closer than before and even making the walls tremble. When he spoke, the flames roared, intensifying for a few seconds. Daenerys swallowed, feeling the slightest part of her body tremble, but remained straight despite everything. She knew who he was ....

_ "You ..... you are ...... the one the red priests are calling ....." she began to say.

_ "R'hllor!!" suddenly shouted out the cavernous and inhuman voice, interrupting Daenerys, who, surprisingly, stepped back, as the flames roared like a monster trying to extricate itself from the chimney.

_ "Naenie brōzāt sia tepagon naejot nyke, yn iksan iēdrosa keskydoso, Konīr's mērī nyke ..... se ao, Mirre se ra glaestan jemagon ao naejot nyke."

Many names were given to me, but I remain the same. There is only me ..... and you. All the things that you have lived until now have led you to me.

_ "What ..... what do you want from me? Why did you choose me?" asked Daenerys, anxious to finally get an answer to this question, and who better than the master of light himself to provide this answer? But would he? Intermingling the long, thin fingers of her hands with each other, without turning away from the fire, the entity did not answer at once, seeming to evaporate in the air and reappear every second that passed.

_ "Mērī kostā keligon skoros kessa massigon Skoros ao ūndegon iksis skoros kessa sagon lo ao qringaomagon se vōljes lēda hāre kasta laesi iksis māzis, is mērī mīre qilōni kostagon iōragon is egros ázma hen perzys kostagon keligon zirȳla."

Only you can stop what will happen. What you saw there are the consequences of your failure ..... the raven with three blue eyes is coming, and only the one who can brandish the sword born of fire and ashes, can stop it. 

The sword born of fire? Daenerys remembered that sword she recovered in the flames .... A vision as clear as water appeared to her like a flash before the eyes ..... she and Jon faced each other, both standing in the middle of a field of snow and ashes, and Jon staggered, his face haggard, while the blade of the sword of Daenerys had just pierced his heart, impregnating the silver blade of the weapon that was being covered by a growing, glowing flame ... Daenerys drove this vision out of her eyes and fell back, panting and trembling. The shadow and the flames in the chimney had vanished in the darkness, only the seat remained, empty, and again the heavy silence reigning as master.

Daenerys decided not to stay here for a second longer and hastened to open the door of the Great Hall, preferring to face the cold from the outside. But when she opened it, she found herself again in front of the house at the red door, under the heat and light of the great sun, among the grasses and the wild flowers. She also saw the lemon tree, unchanged, but this time, two people stood at the foot of the tree, and did not seem to notice the presence of the young woman. Daenerys, once again, remained frozen on the spot, unable to speak or even to think about what she saw.

It was she .... she saw herself there, at the foot of the lemon tree, a little older, and dressed very simply in a long azure dress and a violet fine silk shawl. And with her, sitting on her knees, a lovely little girl, with braided silver hair, and black eyes, that the second Daenerys hugged, both enjoying themselves and watching the lemons together. They were close to her, but their laughter seemed so distant, like echoes fading into the air.

Daenerys contemplated this scene seeming to come from another time or perhaps simply from her imagination. A tear flowed gently on her cheek.

The vision Daenerys then wore what was surely her daughter at arm's length, raising her to one of the branches so she could pick a ripe lemon, which she did. Around her wrist she wore a silver bracelet, shaped like a three-headed dragon. The little girl laughed, holding the fruit in her hand, but suddenly became more serious, slowly turning her attention to another direction.

The heart of the real Daenerys leapt into her chest. The little girl was staring at her. She wanted to reach out to that little girl, come and touch her ....

But Daenerys suddenly opened her eyes, pulled out of her sleep and found herself in her bed, in the middle of her room in the temple of Volantis. The night was still here. Daenerys sat under the sheets, a deep melancholy overwhelming her, her throat knotted, and felt the trace of the tear she had shed earlier on her cheek, touching her with fingertips. With her other hand, she gently touched her belly that continued slowly but surely to round. Outside, in the distance, she suddenly heard the howl of an animal to the full moon .... the howling of a wolf ....


	15. Part 15

Westeros, The Neck

_ "Go, run, they are getting closer!" Brienne ordered in a state of real panic, pushing as far as possible Samwell and Tyrion in front of her to force them to run faster. But the marshy mossy and muddy soil of the Neck region made all progress more difficult, and the many trees around them rendered visibility almost nil in greyish darkness. The trio could have escaped from King's Landing in prey to chaos and death and had galloped without stopping for several, to the point of having killed their horses of exhaustion and being forced to continue on foot.

Unfortunately, death was starting to catch up with them. Lively grunts were heard and the silhouettes of four wights, dressed in rags of peasants or damaged leather armors, appeared out of the shadows, and like rabid dogs rushed towards the trio of humans to reduce them into pieces. Although slowed down by the sticky mud, the wights continued to get closer and closer. One of them found his leg stuck in a moving sand, but still stubbornly wanted to move forward. His rotten leg came apart in a crunch of flesh and bone.

Sword in hand, Brienne, her face sweating, constantly glanced back, seeing the dead creatures come closer to them, snapping their foul jaws and shouting their wild grunts.

After a stumble into a mud pool, Samwell fell backwards into a huge splash of water and slush, and struggling with panic, had Tyrion help him. Samwell continued to cling forcefully to the bag containing the precious grimoires he had taken from his library, which completely escaped Tyrion's logic.

_ "Sam, let those fucking books, they slow you down too much!!" the dwarf snapped in the stress generated by the situation. Samwell shook his head vigorously at this suggestion.

_ "Stop talking, keep running!!" shouted Brienne, slapping Sam's back to force him forward. One of the wights managed to reach them, throwing himself on the nearest person, Brienne. Thrown to the ground despite her size by the weight of the creature, Brienne struggled in hand to hand against the undead in the dripping water and mud, the latter having tightened his hands on her throat and trying to bite her face with his moldy teeth. While holding the thing and trying to breathe, Brienne with her other hand, struggled to grab her sword fallen to the ground next to her. She then saw Sam rush, grab the sword in his hands and pierce the skull with the tip of the blade. The latter froze, then fell lifeless. Brienne pushed the body away from her, helped by Sam and Tyrion to get up.

A gaunt hand then grabs Tyrion's leg, knocking him down in the mud. Another wight, the one who had lost his leg in the shifting sands and crawled now, was bent on pulling Tyrion toward him. The dwarf struggled with all the strength he could, held by the hand by Sam and Brienne.

_ "Hold on, my lord!" Samwell said frightened.

_"Easy to say!!" replied Tyrion, as he tried to kick the wight's face several times. The other two remaining dead had also come close, armed with old rusty swords, and were about to hit Brienne and Sam.

A stealthy whistle sounded suddenly in the air, and an arrow hit one of the undead in the head, piercing his temple and killing him instantly. A few seconds later, a second similar arrow killed the second undead, between the two eyes. Tyrion, Brienne, and Sam remained frozen in astonishment. Opening wide eyes, they saw this human figure, small and fast, run on the big branch of a tree and in a most agile leap, threw a grapple connected to a rope to slide to the foot of the trunk with a large speed. The stranger seized his bow, barking a new arrow and without the least pressure, fired. The projectile passed right next to Tyrion's cheek, the latter having almost felt the friction of the air, and saw the last wight crumpled, shot down in the forehead.

Once the undead were eliminated, Brienne and Sam were able to help Tyrion get back on his feet, while the mysterious person who had just rescued them, examined the corpses of the undead cautiously, kicking them, making sure that they were really out of order.

_ "Are you okay, sir?" Samwell asked as he looked at Tyrion to see if he was hurt. Out of breath and covered with water and mud, the dwarf just nodded in response. Brienne turned to their mysterious savior. Whoever he was, he was rather small, dressed in strange clothes looking like furs, old greenish brown leather, and even natural elements like woven leaves. His face was hidden by a hood and a scarf. He was well armed, in addition to his bow and arrows, possessed a dagger and a short sword at his belt.

_ "I don't know who you are, sir, but thank you." said Brienne sincerely as a good knight. Tyrion and Samwell, though saying nothing, joined her on this point. The stranger says nothing in the first place, just staring at them, one by one. Then, with a nonchalant gesture, he removed his hood, revealing black, semi-long and curly hair, as well as severe eyes. He then removed his scarf to reveal the bottom of his face. Brienne, Tyrion and Sam were surprised at the moment. He was not a man, but a young woman. Her hardened eyes showed she was used to fighting. She advanced a few steps towards them, crushing under her boot the skull of a wight, and in a rather reserved and neutral tone, presented herself to them.

_ "My name is Meera of house Reed."

 

Volantis, Essos

Yara remained pensive for a long time. After washing her body and her hair, the young Queen of the Iron Islands was now looking herself naked in the glass of the small mirror of the room. Looking at her still wet brown hair, as well as the few remaining drops of water on her skin, Yara said nothing, just looking at her figure. For the last few days she had been thinking more and more about Queen Daenerys. She had followed her to the far reaches of the known world, in the lands of Asshai ... she had witnessed phenomena impossible to conceive for an average mind ..... she had been able to see the full power of the symbol that embodied Daenerys stormborn of house Targaryen .... a symbol for the oppressed, the heat of fire would crush those who claim to be the undisputed masters of all life belonging to them without any impunity ....

Although she belonged to a people who had committed many heinous acts in the past, such as looting and rape, Yara was ready to always follow her queen of dragons. She had already sworn to her, swearing to stop the looting and rape, and would be ready to swear anew if she had to .... At the thought of Daenerys in her mind, Yara's heart fell to beat faster and she was surprised to see herself blush a little .... But very quickly, she took the senses of reality, shaking her head nonchalantly in front of the mirror and grabbing his clothes ....

_ "My poor Yara, you must stop taking your dreams for realities." she says to herself. Basically, although her feelings for Queen Daenerys were more than obvious, she could not bring herself to believe it. After what the queen dragon had undergone, could she be able to once again trust a great love?

After wearing her clothes and her iron queen armor, Yara opened the door to leave the room, but was surprised to see Shen-zoan stand in front of her, and just about to knock on the door.

_ "Ah, Yara, I was looking for you." said the man of Yi-Ti, in a friendly tone. "Queen Daenerys sends me to fetch you, she reunites the council."

_ "A council meeting today?" Yara raised an eyebrow. Shen nodded with a smile and invited her to follow him.

_ "I prefer to warn you, she's a little upset." Shen warns, further emphasizing the ironborn queen's curiosity.

_"And for what reason?"

_ "A message from the slave masters of Meereen."

The atmosphere was already heavy when Shen and Yara entered the council room. Around a large stone table on which had been unfolded from side to side a very detailed map of the Slaver's Bay and its main cities, the other members of the council welcomed the last two comers, inviting them to join them. Grey Worm, Ser Cade, Shen-zoan, Yara Greyjoy, the Red High Priest, and of course Queen Daenerys, all were now present for this new council meeting.

The young dragon queen, dressed in her long white dress, was pacing, looking gloomily, holding in her hands a parchment unrolled which she was gradually crushing between her fingers. Around the table, everyone watched without anyone daring to say a word, until Yara, somewhat annoyed by this silence, decided:

_ "My queen ..... what are the news?"

Daenerys paused and turned to her ironborn friend before reaching the end of the table, abruptly placing her hands on the map, sighing heavily. Grey Worm then proposed to clear up Yara's question and spoke.

_ "A message from Meereen. The masters took the city by force, slavery is once again practiced, and a group of very influential masters now lead the city, making themselves known as the" Harpy Lords."

Daenerys bit his lip just to hear again the news having on her mind like the effect of a painful poison. Just at the thought of these men, women and children in need that she had saved, chained again, beaten, starved, killed for pleasure ..... and she had abandoned them, for her futile quest for the Iron Throne ..... Daenerys could probably never forgive herself, but all she could do now was fix her mistake once and for all. However, she raised another very important detail concerning the current situation of Meereen.

_ "They did not just take over the city ..." Daenerys explained, in a very morose tone, her throat knotted ".... they ..... they took Daario Naharis...."

_"Who?" Yara asked.

_ "He used to be a member of the second sons, and then joined me to serve me. A very devoted, competent man .... I had entrusted to him the regency of Meereen in my absence ...."

Every word that came out of her mouth was accompanied by that feeling of anxiety more than palpable. Daenerys then took in her hands a small wooden box bearing on its surface the golden symbol of the harpy. A gift sent by the masters with the message. Daenerys swallowed and opened it hesitantly, before showing the contents to others. All were more or less surprised, even disgusted. An eye, still bloody, was inside. On the box had been hung a little message, that Daenerys read aloud:

_ "This is a gift for the silver-haired whore - the eye of her godly commander who is so brave and dedicated - one eye to start, but more pieces will follow until there is nothing left. The dragon has fallen, and once again the harpy reigns over the Meereen sky, as it should be."

After reading this sharp message to her, Daenerys squashed it bluntly between her fingers, before letting the crumpled paper ball fall to her feet. Although she tried to remain calm, the others could see without problem that Daenerys was fuming inside, her fists clenching on the wood of the table and her eyes becoming darker than ever. Although angry, Daenerys was also worried. Was Daario simply still alive or had the masters made him their toy, inflicting the worst possible tortures while keeping him alive?

_ "They take the cities that I freed from their tyranny ... they kill children ... they tear the eye of Daario and dare to send me with an insulting message ...." she sighed with anger. Grey Worm stepped forward, joining his queen.

_ "We must make the masters pay, majesty, kill them to the last one." said the leader of the unsullied without hesitation. Although having given up the idea of killing, Shen-zoan had to admit that this time, faced with such individuals deprived of humanity, other solutions would not be possible. Ser Cade, too, seemed to agree with Grey Worm. Yara, too, joined the others.

_ "However ...." Shen commented, trying to stay rational "... if the masters are not stupid, they will surely use the thousands of slaves present in the city as a human shield ... If we launch a frontal assault, it will be a real carnage, hundreds of innocent people will be killed."

Daenerys listened and agreed with her friend from Yi-Ti. She remembered the drama in King's Landing with shame, and would never want to reproduce such an error. She was a liberator, not a destroyer. Feeling somewhat tired with all the stress of the past few days, the dragon queen ran her hand over her face, blowing heavily.

_ "I ... I have to stay alone a few moments, my friends .... we will resume this meeting later ...." she said, before turning on her heels and leaving the room, followed by her maid Mira. All around the table, in the greatest silence, the others gave the same cautious glances, but understanding in what state of reflection their queen was.

Refugee in her quarters in one of the towers of the temple of Volantis, Daenerys took a few moments to breathe calmly, and walked to the small bronze table to serve a glass of wine. While taking a first sip, feeling the fresh drink pouring down her throat and doing her good, she thought about how to free Meereen without having to massacre the people she came to save. Not to mention Daario .... the masters would surely use him as a means of pressure on her to prevent her from taking over the city .... Daenerys gave herself a headache by thinking all of this. What a situation!

She then heard the door open and close.

_ "Mira, I had asked that I not be disturbed ...." Daenerys said turning around, thinking to see her young servant, but it was Yara who showed up at the door of the room.

_ "Yara? What do you want? I told you that we will resume the council meeting later ..." said the dragon queen, somewhat annoyed when she went to sit on the sheets of her bed, the glass of wine in her hand.

_ "I know ..." replied the ironborn queen, approaching the bed with a nonchalant step "... but I wanted to make sure that you're fine. I'm worried about you."

Without looking at her, Daenerys listened to the young woman, feeling very well the sincere tone in her voice. Dropping another sip of wine, she turned to her friend and with her hand, pointed to the place on the bed next to her.

_"Come."

Yara smiled slightly and obeyed, coming to sit on the comfortable silk sheets, right next to Queen Targaryen.

_ "Your concern touches me, Yara, really, but I assure you, I'm fine."

_ "It's not true," Yara retorted, looking straight into her eyes, "I can see it. You can hardly sleep at night, you moan in your sleep, and sometimes you shout. You don't eat much and you seem exhausted all the time... "

_ "You don't have to interfere with this! It is not your concern, understood?!" Daenerys suddenly got excited, surprising Yara at the moment. Realizing very quickly her mistake of being so stupid and unfair to her friend who worries about her, Daenerys sighed, putting her drink on the little bedside table and came to take Yara's hand in her own.

_ "Forgive me, I should not have spoken to you that way. It was silly."

_ "It's nothing, your grace ..." Yara told her to reassure her, perfectly understanding "... and then, you're the queen."

_ "You too are queen ..." Daenerys reminded her with a little smile "... and as such, I must respect you as you do with me. Between queens, we must help each other."

The two women exchanged a small laugh together, relaxing a little the heavy atmosphere that reigned. Yara looked at the dragon queen again, unable to stop herself from finding her so beautiful and attractive, feeling the softness of the skin of her hand in hers, her fine fingers intertwining hers ....

Without thinking and unable to hold back, Yara approached, leaning her head forward and delicately put her lips on those of Daenerys, in a very short kiss, but marked with a sincerity more than obvious. Pulling back her head after the kiss, Yara remained silent. Daenerys did the same, and showed a face somewhat caught off guard, but not outraged.

_ "I ..... forgive me, I should not have ...." Yara said very embarrassed and beating heart, cheeks red and without adding a word, got up to leave hastily from the room, leaving the Targaryen young woman alone. Daenerys sat there, brushing her lips with her fingertips, glancing over her shoulder, but seeing that Yara had already left.


	16. Part 16

The great day of the beginning of the reconquest had finally come. After many peripethies through Essos and many meetings, the young queen Daenerys had finally succeeded in rebuilding her army and was now ready to free Slaver's Bay again from the clutches of the slavers.  
The army of the young dragon queen was now in a small valley not far from the great city of Meereen. The unsullied soldiers, the dothrakis, the knights of the golden dragons and their war elephants, the ironborns, all were there, ready to fight and serve the cause of the last Targaryen queen. Grey Worm patrolled the camp, walking between the tents and checking that everything was fine with the men. There was still tension between the men, with the dothrakis often hostile to the ironborns and the men of the golden dragons, but Yara, Shen-zoan, and Ser Cade did their best to maintain order.   
Placed at the top of one of the great rocky hills that dominates the valley, Drogon, like a giant sentinel, watched, while Mirrandes and Joreas flew in a circle in the sky above the camp. From her royal tent located in the center of the camp and guarded by a constant cohort of guards, Daenerys Targaryen silently contemplated the extent of her new army, with some confidence, but also distrust. Who knows what the slavers could think of as a trick to harm her ... she thought of Daario, who was now not far from her and was now suffering the worst tortures imaginable .... a shudder went through her as she took a sip of wine on the little table put at her disposal in her tent. Although feeling the full weight of stress in her, she remained strong. She had to. She was the blood of Aegon the conqueror, and like him, she would win. Like her ancestor riding the terrible Balerion, she would rise on Drogon's back from the skies and bring down her judgment of the slave masters and remove forever the slightest trace of the existence of their ignoble empire. Respond to injustice with justice.  
In the evening, the queen sent for a council of war in her tent, and invited all her lieutenants. Gathered around the large candlelit table and where was the big map of Slaver's Bay, Shen-zoan, Ser Cade, and Grey Worm waited patiently.Mira stood back, but remaining alert to the slightest desire for her khaleesi. Yara was the last to enter the tent, and immediately her eyes met Dany's. The two young women greeted each other with respect, but very quickly, looked away. Since their last discussion and this unexpected kiss from Yara, a certain distance had elapsed between the two women, each needing to think. But right now, it was time for military strategy and once all her allies gathered around her, Daenerys began the discussion, placing her hands on the table.  
_ "The masters are aware of our presence, but they prefer to hide behind their thick walls, like the cowards they have always been ..... a frontal attack against the main door would be too risky, and moreover , the masters could use slaves as human shields ..... "  
_ "My queen," Yara said, "... with all due respect, there are still civilian casualties in the sieges, it is sad to say, but it is so."  
_ "You're right," Dany answered coldly, "but if the blood must flow, it will be the guilty ones, not the innocent ones. No harm must be done to the slaves. This is my decision."  
Yara obeyed and nodded. Shen, while scratching his black goatee with his fingertips, agreed with the Queen Targaryen, but seemed to be troubled by another problem.  
_ "In this case, how are we going to enter Meereen? If the masters are smart enough, they will keep the doors closed and destroy our forces little by little with their archers."  
Yi Ti's man just saw it again, but Daenerys showed a confident air and turned to Grey Worm, who spoke in turn and with his finger, pointed to a specific spot on the map of the city.  
_ "I and a group of men will enter the city through the system of tunnels through which they evacuate waste. Once inside, we will trigger riots among slaves and light fires everywhere. In the meantime, some of the men will open the gates of the city to allow our army to enter."  
Everyone listened to the plan of the leader of the unsullied with great attention, and all seemed to find the idea good. Cade was then the second to speak.  
_ "Once the doors are open, I and my men will be the first to enter, followed by the remaining dothrakis and unsullied, and the war elephants will remain behind and handle any cavalry attacks that may happen on the sides."  
Yara, in turn, spoke of her role.  
_ "The lights will be the signal, and when we see them, I and the Iron Fleet will launch the attack on the port, hopefully it will attract a few more guards. With attacks from several opposing directions, their forces will be completely destabilized."  
One by one, Daenerys had listened to them, and smiled, more confident. For her part, she would be on the back of Drogon, overseeing the attack from the sky and would eliminate the archers on duty on the walls and possible siege engines. The strategy having been reviewed again and again, the young dragon queen returned to sit in her seat, while Mira brought her a cup of wine.  
_ "Thank you, you can leave." she said sincerely to her allies "... have some rest. Night will be short. Tomorrow we free Meereen from the jousting of slavery, once and for all."  
Shen-zoan, Yara, Grey Worm, and Cade bowed, bowing to their queen, before leaving the tent one by one. Yara was the last to leave, but before crossing the entrance, turned to Daenerys.  
_ "My queen, I ........ no, nothing ...." she had hesitated, but finally could not find the words and chose to leave outside, with a fast step. Daenerys remained silent, pensive. Walking outside in the midst of the tents in the night of ink and lit by the torches, Yara ran her hands over her face, sighing heavily and treating herself internally as an idiot.  
_ "My poor Yara .... what were you hoping for, stupid that you are ..." she spoke all alone, angry with herself. But suddenly, she saw Shen-zoan, who was going to sit in front of his little tent and enjoyed the cool breeze of the night. Sitting on a small wooden crate, the man of Yi Ti, whose only face was lit by the small fire in front of him, was blowing into what looked like a small flute carved out of a beautiful material that looked like green stone and brilliant. A calm and soothing melody came out of this instrument, which Shen seemed to master to perfection.   
On the fire, the man seemed to have begun to boil a herbal mixture and let a sweet scented smoke emerge. Yara came to sit in front of him, which he accepted with pleasure.  
_ "Draftsman, fighter, doctor, and now musician ... is there anything you can't do, Shen?" Yara asked with a small smile. Shen gave a reserved little laugh.  
_ "Of course, yes," he replied humbly, "but what interest would I have to show what I can not do when I can share what I'm good at."  
She always seemed to hear him speak as if he was posing some sort of riddle.  
_ "You really are an enigma, Shen-zoan, you know that?" said Yara with a frankness of which the man did not seem offended, and smiled again.   
_ "Oh, yet there's no most simple man than me I think ..." he said frankly, sighing and looking up at the sea of stars above the camp, looking at her almost nostalgic of his country "... I am only a man to whom life has given a greater destiny than I thought. A man who wants to help others, in a world dominated by violence. A man ho does not care about the colors of skins or about religions, because even if people are different on the outside, we are all the same inside... Is not our blood red, for all of us?"  
Again, Yara listened to him speak with the same attention. Shen had this unique way of pushing people to listen to him, without forcing them. He seemed almost mystical in those moments. A human looking being but not really one .... something that could not be explained .... a person like him nicknamed "Windwalker" could not be someone ordinary....   
_ "Tell me ..." Shen asked, which made Yara emerge from her thoughts "... have you ever heard about Yi Ti's laments?"  
_ "No, I must admit that no." Yara answered a little embarrassed, but very frank.  
_ "All the better ...." Shen said while preparing his jade flute "... in this case, I will be happy to make you discover them."  
Taking inspiration and uttering the greatest silence, Shen began a new melody. A slow, deep, melodious breath was heard from the instrument, pulling a shudder from Yara as soon as she heard. Cleverly moving his fingers across the flute's various holes, Shen continued the slow, heavy music that sounded softly through the camp. Several men, including Cade and Gray Worm, stopped in their activities to listen. From her royal tent, Daenerys had heard too, a shiver running down her body, and had come to the entrance of her tent, to listen to the melody. Drogon, Mirrandes and Joreas, stopped their meal and raised their heads, intrigued but at the same time soothed by this strange music which came to caress their ears.   
A cool, gentle breeze had risen through the camp, while Shen, after having blown, began a deep song, in an unknown language, that of Yi Ti probably. His voice was serious, but just as melodious as his music. While listening to her in the utmost silence, Yara felt her throat tighten and an immense feeling of appeasement, but also of sadness that invaded her. Closing her eyes, she saw her brother Theon, facing her, talking with her ... their childhood, their moments of anger, but also the quieter and happy moments, as rare were they ...   
Grey Worm thought back to Missandei, to their relationship and unfortunately, to her tragic death, or helpless, he could not do anything to save her ..... Daenerys, too, sadly rethought those she had lost ..... Drogo, Missandei, Jorah, Viserion and Rhaegal, and Jon also in some way ..... she felt a tear on her cheek and wiped it off the back of her hand.  
Yara, though wishing to remain strong and true to herself, could not restrain a tear from sinking and quickly withdrew it. Shen finished his short song and noticed Yara's reaction.  
_ "I'm sorry if I made you sad ..." says the man of Yi Ti a little embarrassed "... the laments of my country serve to express the suffering that we keep in us, and to expel it, in order to lighten our souls from all this trouble .... "  
Indeed, Yara felt strangely lighter and less melancholic than before. In her tent, Daenerys also felt the waves that this song had made through her body and mind. She felt lighter, liberated from enormous weight, but more importantly, more determined than ever to move forward. Looking at the sword she had obtained in the flames with her two new children, she seized it, contemplating the silver blade where the sparks of fire were reflected, and tightened her grip on it. She swore it .... tomorrow would be the end of slavery.  
***********   
A few hours later ..... the great liberation began, while the new sun would show its first rays only in a few minutes .... As expected, Grey orm, accompanied by a score of unsullied, sneaked to the favor of the dark thanks to their black armors. Without a sound and without attracting attention, they reached a place out of sight, at the feet of one of the great walls of Meereen. There began one of the ends of tunnels used to evacuate wastewater. The unsullied managed to undo the gate that closed the access, and one by one, lighting with torches, began their march in the dark tunnel and stinking water rotting. Walking at the top of his men, Gray Worm was more than focused, knowing that the success of Meereen's invasion depended on him.  
Meanwhile, Yara and her hatchlings had returned to their fleets of ships, hidden in a creek nearby. Equipped with its kraken armor, sword at the waist, the ironborn queen gave her orders in a strong and intelible voice, the sailors around her preparing to prepare the ships and deploying the large black sails marked with the coat of arms yellow kraken in the wind. In the camp, the troops began to gather. Over riding their powerful horses, the dothrakis were eager to fight. Enclosed in their new gold and red armors, Cade and his knights would lead the charge, with their mighty war elephants, also equipped with heavy and strong armor hats spiked and led by the most experienced riders of the troop. The rest of the unsullied marched in perfect rows, spears and shields in hand and followed suit, led by Shen-zoan since Grey Worm gave him the leadership until further notice.  
Finally, coming out of her tent, equipped, Daenerys, her long silver hair braided in the manner of dothrakis, advanced, looking straight ahead, determined, escorted by two guards and the maid Mira who remained near the tent, praying for the success of her queen. Daenerys had abandoned the silk dresses and other nice clothes. Today, she would fight alongside her troops. For this, she was dressed in a light armor, ebony color with red highlights and whose patterns were almost like scales. A small dark red cape dangled and fell to half her back. At her belt, in a sheath of high quality leather, was his sword. Daenerys advanced, respectfully greeted by her troops, to the center of the encampment, where the great Drogon waited for her, grunting with a fierce appetite for the fight that awaited him.   
Drogon also wore a sort of armor at his size, a few thin plates of metal, protecting the sensitive places like the belly, the ribs and the head, and arranged so as not to hinder him in his flight. By order of Daenerys, this dragon armor had been forged at the temple of Volantis. With his only still valid eye, the big black dragon looked at his mother, his reptilian iris shining like an incandescent embers. Daenerys smiled at him, caressed his muzzle and climbed onto his back. Around, all watched their queen ride on the back of her big dragon. In the sky, Mirrandes and Joreas continued to fly in a circle, contemplating their big brother.  
Once Daenerys was seated and ready, Drogon rise up slowly, standing on his hind legs and spreading his huge scarlet wings. In order to galvanize her troops, Daenerys unsheathed her sword and raised it as high as she could, while Drogon let out a mighty, fierce roar. Around them, the unsullied struck in unison on their shields, while the dothrakis and the knights of the golden dragons loudly proclaimed their desire to fight, raising their weapons in the air. Shen-zoan and Cade watched all this, a great pride on their faces. With a great impulse that raised a cloud of dust, Drogon flew away, his mother on his back and began to move towards the sky, while the ground troops resumed their march towards the city. On the water and emerging from the creek, the ironborn fleet, led by Yara Greyjoy, slowly advanced with the winds, with on board all the ironborn warriors prepared for battle. From the deck of her flagship, Yara saw Drogon fly away, and smiled proudly.  
***********   
Meanwhile....  
Enclosed and stockpiled like cattle in huge dark and cold rooms in the basement, the thousands of slaves in the city slept, or at least those who did, some too sick or hungry to be able to close their eyes. Women, children, men, young and old ..... some were so thin that their ribs were almost apparent and some were so weak that they could barely move. If their masters found them in this state, they would have them killed for sure. A slave unable to move is as useless to them as a stray dog.  
Suddenly, a loud noise awoke most of the slaves. The door of their prison opened abruptly, as a Meereen guard fell violently backwards, his throat sliced.   
At first scared, the slaves saw Gray Worm and some unsullied enter the cell without saying a word. Curled up as a group, slaves did not dare move, mothers protecting their children. Gray Worm approached a young mother and her son, and without a sudden gesture, placed in their hands a small metal object, shaped like a three-headed dragon. The mother looked at this symbol, having seen it before, like many others around her who saw the object, saw sparks appear in their eyes .... was it possible? The older slaves began to talk to each other, describing to the youngest the dragon symbol and what it represented, some of them remembering who she was and what he had done for them before.  
_"M....Mhysa.....mhysa....." Some of the slaves pronounced this name slowly, hesitating at first, but little by little, said it with a meager ounce of hope reborn in them. The unsullied came to place arms wrapped in sheets on the ground, and invited the slaves to seize them.  
_ "Today you are no longer slaves ....." said Gray Worm forcefully ".... by the will of Queen Daenerys Stormborn, you will win your freedom!!"


	17. Part 17

The most absolute discord fell on the city of Meereen. Galvanized by the news of the return of Queen Daenerys Targaryen and her armies coming to freeing the city, thousands of slaves had risen against their masters. Groups of slaves, armed with everything they could find, were marching through the streets of the city, thrusting the doors of the houses of the masters, clashing with the guards and by any means possible, trying to reach the masters who chose to flee. One of the slavers, trying to flee through an alley with his two bodyguards, were all three surrounded by a horde of angry slaves who run on them to beat them to death. Unfortunately, groups of guards had been formed and in some quarters of the city, and although superior in numbers, the slaves were forced to flee, massacred without mercy by the guards who chased them like animals during a hunt.  
In the Great Pyramid of Meereen, the high masters of the new slavery empire had come to take refuge with their escorts of guards, and contemplating with horror the situation from the high balconies of the pyramid and shouting their orders to their soldiers to stop immediately this rebellion.  
Taking advantage of the fact that the slaves and fires provoked everywhere attracted the attention of the guards, Gray Worm and his group of infiltrated men rushed to the great gates of the city and, after killing some sentinels, no longer wait and acted to open the heavy gates of the city to allow the bulk of the troops to enter. Outside the walls, but approaching more and more, the ground troops of Daenerys' army arrived.   
Riding his horse and wearing his gold armor, Ser Cade, with his sword in his hand, led his knights to the charge, followed by the dothrakis, screaming and waving their weapons with ferocity. Behind them, in perfect line, the few elephants of war, powerful in their armors, uttered their powerful grunts which resounded in the air. At the head of the rest of the unsullied soldiers, Shen-zoan advanced, armed with his combat stick, more concentrated than ever. Shen had refused any sharp weapon and wore no armor, just his usual clothes that offered no protection, which surprised everyone when he politely refused to put on armor, saying he did not need it. Although unprotected, he remained surprisingly serene, as he had no fear of dying.  
Seeing in the distance that the large doors were beginning to open slightly from the inside, the troops advanced, confident. Unfortunately, rival troops, the second sons, who had been engaged by the slavers to defend the city against a possible attack, sprang up from the right and left, charging on their horses. Seeing them come towards them, Ser Cade raised his sword in the air like a signal and shouted his orders.  
_ "Protect our troops on foot! Men of the golden dragons! Dothraki! Attack!!"  
Not needing more motivation, the dothrakis, untenable, were the first to charge, to the left side, in a veritable tide of howls and furious gallops. Facing the riders coming from the right, the war elephants stepped heavily into the front line, followed closely by Ser Cade and his knights. Standing in the middle of all this, Shen and the unsullied remained motionless, the Yi-Ti man turning to them.  
_ "Let's keep going to the doors! We must not stop!"  
The unsullied obeyed and resumed their advance. The first riders of the second sons and dothrakis collided, causing violent shocks, knocking riders and horses off the ground, raising clouds of sand and dust. Some dothrakis, driven mad by the thirst for battle, leaped from their horses in the middle of the race, coming down on the second sons to knock them down. The weapons clashed, the first blasts of blood and the screams began. On the other side, the charge of the second sounds was broken by the brutal and deadly charge of the elephants, who with their tusks swept the first horsemen and horses like toys, tearing them into bloody pieces and broken bones. Behind, Ser Cade and his men took advantage of the confusion to kill the enemy riders who managed to sneak behind the elephants. But the second sounds would not be done, many of them taking bows and starting to shoot arrows at elephants, trying to reach the flaws in the armors.  
************   
Meanwhile, on the bay side, Yara, at the head of the ironborn fleet, finally arrived in view of the port of Meereen. Unfortunately, a large fleet of slave ships had formed a real blockade in front of the port, waiting for a firm footing. Although surprised but not intimidated, Yara descended the small stairway leading to the main deck and walked among her men, giving new orders while unsheathing her sword.  
_ "Prepare scorpions! All at your boarding positions!! Faster than that!!"  
The ironborns obeyed and ran in all directions, some sending signals to the other ships to make known the orders of the queen. On all the ships, the giant crossbows were armed and ready to unleash their fire, and the men, equipped and armed, waited with impatience to fight and to show to these slavers the legendary ferocity of the ironborns.   
The two fleets were getting closer and closer to each other. Suddenly, the catapults aboard the slave ships, propelled their first projectiles inflamed in the air, in a real rain of fire. The flood fell on the ironborn fleet, causing heavy damage to some ships, killing several sailors, and even managing to sink one of the ships, the latter having been pierced through by several projectiles. Yara saw this ship sinking slowly, and all the crew screaming at death falling in the water or burning in the flames. Her eyes darkened, the ironborn queen clenched her teeth, and firmly lowered her arm.  
_ "Scorpions ..... archers .... fire at will!!"  
Immediately, the giant crossbows fired. The giant iron rods flew at full speed, and crashed into the hulls of slave ships, again causing great damage and also killing several men on their passes, completely torn apart by the speed and power of the projectiles.   
Having suffered some minor damage, Yara's flagship approached the first enemy ship. More than concentrated, Yara stepped forward, her men behind her, as the two fleets continued to bombard each other fiercely.  
_ "Grapples!!" Yara ordered, once the two ships at close distance. The grapples were launched without waiting, and after heavy efforts, the two ships came into contact, making them both shake. Riding a rope, Yara slid down to the enemy ship, followed by her men, and now faced the enemy crew waiting for them.  
_ "What is dead may never die!!" Yara shouted loudly.  
_ "WHAT IS DEAD MAY NEVER DIE!!" howled the ironborn men in their turns, rushing to attack with their queen.  
***********   
Meanwhile, the fight raged outside the walls. Dozens of second sons and dothrakis lay lifeless on the blood-red ground. Ser Cade, armed with his sword and surrounded by his knights, used all his knowledge of the combat he had learned in the Golden Company, managing to block the attack of an enemy and behead him after. Although the losses of the second sons were greater, several knights of the golden dragons had fallen in battle, and even one of the elephants had been killed, riddled with arrows. However, the remaining elephants, enraged by the pain of the arrows that hit them, unleashed their rage on the enemy ranks, stomping on them with their large paws or shredding them with tusks. One of them even seized an enemy rider in his trunk and with tremendous pressure, squeezed him and reduced him to a slurry of bone and flesh as if he had squeezed an overripe fruit.  
Shen-zoan and the unsullied approached the doors. Unfortunately, dozens of enemy archers appeared at the top of the ramparts.  
_ "Shields!!" Shen ordered quickly, leaping behind the soldiers who formed a real turtle with their shields. Hidden beneath the shields, Shen could hear the spikes of the arrows hitting the surfaces of the shields just above him. Some unsullied, despite the protection, were hit by arrows and fell to the ground, dead. They were now trapped by the constant firing. Behind the doors, Grey Worm saw one of his men being hit in the back by an arrow. Archers from the top of the ramparts had targeted them. Grey Worm and his men were forced to take cover, but could not open the doors. The situation became critical.  
Suddenly, a loud roar echoed from the sky, drawing everyone's attention. Emerging like an aerial devil from the sea of clouds, Drogon arrived at full speed, Daenerys well hung on his back.  
_ "Dracarys!!"  
The dragon brought out its deluge of flames which covered the top of the ramparts and swallowed all enemy archers in its infernal heat wave. The screams echoed everywhere, men burning alive and falling from the walls like flies. Now free of the rain of arrows, Grey Worm and his men could push the big doors again, while Shen and his troops approached to enter. Once the doors were open enough, Shen and the unsullied troops entered the city. Shen found himself in front of Grey Worm, and gave him back the command of his troops.  
Alerted, troops of guards came to the door to stop the invaders. The unsullied, spears forward and shields in front of them, were preparing for the charge. Shen and Grey Worm glared at each other, nodding and leading their troops, rushed to attack.  
The unsullied and the guards of the city collided with great violence, the first deaths already being felt. Grey Worm, with his lance, immediately impaled an enemy in the belly, spilling blood. Shen jumped with feline agility, spinning his combat stick all around him and hitting all the enemy guards within range, without killing them, but enough to knock them down and disarm them. Shen remained on his support, to strike without killing, such was his law of life. Queen Daenerys had given clear orders, knowing that the guards of the city were also slaves: kill only those who resist and spare those who surrender.  
Shen managed to make his way through the first streets of the city, dodging the attacks and hitting the guards who were trying to stop him. Around him, the many slaves continued to sow disorder, cheering the unsullied soldiers as heroes. At the corner of a street, Shen noticed a slave woman and her four-year-old daughter, curled up against the wall of a house, both at the mercy of a guard who was about to kill them unscrupulously. Immediately, Shen ran as fast as the wind, slamming the guard's neck, instantly knocking him out. Shen then helped the woman and the child to get up and told them to stay with him, to protect them.  
***********   
In the streets of the city, the slaves lifted their eyes to the sky, gazing at the huge, majestic black dragon that flew over the city, spreading its giant shadow over the buildings. Recognizing this great dragon, the oldest slaves screamed with hope, reassuring the youngest. From the balconies of the high pyramid, the high masters of slavery stared in horror at the large black flying reptile flying over the streets of their city. It was her, the young silver queen who had damaged their empire before, and who was coming back to put an end to it again.  
Flying over the city on the back of her large dragon in armor, Daenerys watched with a keen eye, seeing the hordes of slaves also fighting for their freedom. Her attention then turned to the bay and the port, where she could see that Yara's fleet had engaged the fight against the slave fleet, fire and smoke rising profusely from the many ships. Daenerys had Drogon maneuvered, making him fly towards the port.  
**********   
In the bay, the battle was raging. Ironborn and slaver fleets had collided, with several ships already in the throes of flames and chaos. In the waters, dozens of corpses, ironborn sailors or Meereen's guards floated lifeless, the water having tinged with the red of their blood. The smell of blood, of burnt and death invaded the air.  
Still leading the assault on the main enemy ship, Yara was stuck against one of the mats by an enemy soldier, trying to cut off her head. Yara gave him a violent impulse, pushing him back, and slashed him with a sword blow in the chest. Her face dirty because of the smoke and the drops of blood, her armor and her blood-stained sword, the young queen of the iron islands took a few seconds of breath, looking around her.   
The wood of the ship's deck was stained with blood, as well as the many corpses that dotted it. Although inferior in number, the ironborns managed to resist. Yara could observe the actions of the enemy soldiers. Their armors of poor quality, their anarchic way of fighting and their faces, most of them terrorized .... they were not real warriors, only slaves indoctrinated by unscrupulous masters ordering them to fight and die for them ... Yara spat on the ground, almost sick of this, but had to concentrate very quickly when another enemy arrived to attack her.  
Suddenly, the great and powerful Drogon, whose roar pierced the air, arrived, covering the ships with his shadow. Seeing him, many slaver soldiers raised their eyes, terrified, while the ironborns shouted their support for the queen Targaryen and her dragon. Yara, after killing down the enemy who was trying to kill her, could not restrain her smile from forming on her lips, looking with pride at the large flying reptile flying over the bay, and seeing the small figure of Daenerys Targaryen on his back.  
From above, Daenerys looked down, and saw Yara in the middle of the enemy ship. The gazes of the two young women met for a few seconds. Daenerys was somewhat worried about her, as with each of her allies, but she also trusted them to fight and stay alive as best they could. They would win, all together!   
But soon, the dragon queen refocused her attention on the slave ships further back, the latter continuing to bombard the ironborn ships with their catapults. Daenerys led Drogon to them.  
_ "Dracarys!!"  
While flying, Drogon opened his mouth, pouring out again his torrent of scarlet flames, which covered the three ships, one after the other. The catapults were devoured by the fire, just like the many crewmen, in a gruesome orchestra of atrocious screams and burning bodies, accompanied by the despicable smell of death.  
Watching the ships sinking, and all these men burning hot, some falling into the water, Daenerys did not take satisfaction. She knew that the blood would have to flow in order to give back freedom to this world, but she would have wished not to have to make flow the blood of soldiers whose mind had been perverted and who had been pushed to fight and to die for monsters who only saw them as objects. The young queen raised her dark but determined gaze towards the Meereen pyramid, knowing that Daario was surely there, just like the high masters, hidden like rats in their hole.  
After a maneuver, Drogon returned to the assault, continuing to fly over the bay and spitting his flames on enemy ships blocking access to the port, to allow Yara's forces to enter the city.  
On the ship, Yara continued unabated, encouraging her still alive men to let go of nothing. But suddenly, she noticed that the catapults of some enemy ships had just launched their fiery projectiles, on the flagship of their own fleet.  
_ "Beware, my queen!!" yelled one of the ironborns, pushing Yara aside, just before an inflamed rock crashed and caused an explosion on the bridge. Several ironborns and slave soldiers were instantly killed. The other projectiles fell in the rain, killing many men and gradually destroying the ship. Yara, lost in chaos and blinded by the smoke around her, could only hear screams. The explosion close to a projectile blew her away, passing her over the rail. Having no time to avoid it, Yara fell into the dark, bloody waters of the bay.


	18. Part 18

The cold water infiltrating the smallest interstices of her armor .... the breath cut, the forces diminished, the darkness swallowing her little by little .... Yara felt and saw all this around her then that she felt herself sinking progressively towards the bottom of the bay, swept away by the weight of her armor. From her vague gaze, she saw the innumerable remains of ships and corpses, ironborns and slavery soldiers, around her, also flowing to the seabed.  
Although not wishing to die, Yara was not afraid. As an ironborn warrior and queen of the iron islands, she had always been prepared to die sooner or later on the battlefield. She would thenlet the drowned god dispose of her soul. Slowly closing her eyes and unable to rise to the surface, Yara seemed to accept her fate.  
Suddenly, a giant shadow appeared above the surface of the water, and a large black dragon's paw plunged, gently coming to take Yara between his claws. Opening her eyes in amazement, Yara felt lifted by a colossal force and pulled out of the water, finding again the light of day and the ability to breathe. Dripping with sea water and coughing heavily, she was amazed to see that she was flying, being held by one of Drogon's paws.  
Still haggard, the iron queen saw the landscape and the naval battle marching under it, while Drogon was heading for the port.  
The big black dragon landed heavily on one of the wharves, making flee the guards who were frightened, and with great caution, laid Yara on the mainland. Sitting on the ground, soaked and still stunned, Yara came to her senses, to see Queen Daenerys come down from her dragon's back and come to her.  
_ "Yara?! Are you alright?!" asked the dragon queen, taking her ally by the shoulders, with a concerned look. From the air she had contemplated the explosion of the flagship, as well as the fall of Yara into the waters of the bay. Daenerys had sworn never to lose more close allies, and she would stick to it. Still coughing a little and removing one of his boots to run all the water that had infiltrated inside, Yara answered her.  
_ "Yes, thank you, your grace."  
The two women smiled at each other and Daenerys reached out, helping Yara to get up. Drogon had unleashed his anger at the approaching groups of guards, roaring at them and making them run away, spitting columns of flames in their direction.  
In the bay, and thanks to the intervention of Daenerys and her dragon, the blockade of the slavers fleet could have been broken more quickly, and already, the first ironborn ships docked in the port, ready to disembark their troops.   
Seeing this with satisfaction, Daenerys spoke again to Yara.  
_ "You and your men, take and secure the entire port. It is necessary at all costs to prevent the masters to escape by the sea."  
_"Got it." Yara answered confidently, sword in hand "... they will not pass. By the way, have you seen Shen and the others?"  
_ "Yes. Shen, Grey Worm and their troops have passed the main gates, Ser Cade, his knights and the dothrakis are busy repelling the mercenary troops outside the walls, and the slave revolt sown the mess, as expected."  
Yara took good note of all this, glad to know it. Daenerys climbed onto Drogon's back as a cohort of armed guards approached them. Immediately, Drogon unleashed his flames on them, covering them all and reducing them to a gigantic heap of ashes scattered by the wind. The ironborn troops landed on the quays, gathering and beginning to come towards their queen.  
_ "Now, let's finish this. We have a world to deliver!" said Daenerys, on Drogon's back, and giving Yara a last look, before the dragon, with a powerful wingbeat, flies away again, towards the heights of the city, and particularly towards the pyramid. Yara contemplated the flight of the majestic reptile as she was joined by her soldiers. From several streets, groups of armed guards came running to repel the invaders on the port. Seeing them coming towards her, Yara smiled with all her teeth, harpooning them with her sharp eye, and tightening her grip on her sword. Shrieking fiercely, the ironborn queen, followed by her warrior troops, rushed into battle, Yara gving the first blow and slicing an enemy's face in half.  
***********   
Having succeeded in investing the first streets and squares of the city, the unsullied had dispersed in several small battalions, all attacking the places defended by the guards. The slaves, seeing the unsullied do, joined with them to attack the enemy soldiers together.  
Handling his spear and his shield with the same dexterity, Grey Worm was doing damages to the enemy ranks, managing to kill down several around him in a few minutes. His face was dirty with dust and blood, but his eyes showed the same fierce of fighting.   
_ "Where is Shen? Did any of you see him?" Grey Worm shouted in the middle of the tumult, looking around for the man from Yi Ti who had been missing for a few minutes. None of the unsullied ones seemed to know it, and being too busy fighting only to answer a question.  
***********   
With his speed, almost giving the illusion of running as fast as the wind, Shen-zoan have moved away from the worst of the fight and crossed the chaotic streets. His goal: to reach the great pyramid. Hearing the familiar roars, he raised his head to see Drogon and Daenerys passing over the street and heading towards this destination too.  
But what Shen saw then shocked him inwardly. A hundred yards ahead of him, on a small trading square, slave riders, three precisely, with armor visibly more elaborate than the basic soldiers, were slaughtering slaves without the slightest pity. A young woman in rags was thrown to the ground and impaled by the spear of one of the horsemen. A father and his child tried to flee but were caught quickly and riddled with arrows, without any restraint. The third rider grabbed a slave by the throat with his whip and sneered as he dragged him into the dust.   
As he walked down the street, Shen could see around him the corpses of several men, women and children, all bloody and mutilated horribly. And seeing the many traces of blood that permeated the armors of these three horsemen, Shen realized that they were at the origin of this massacre.  
His gaze turning dark under his hat, Shen kept running towards them, which they finally noticed. The horseman armed with a bow fired a first arrow. It was there, opening his eyes sharply, that Shen rose to the next gear.  
Shen dodged the arrow with a quick movement to one side, without ceasing his frantic run, which greatly destabilized enemy riders on seeing him do so. The rider with the spear then charged with his horse towards this unusual enemy. Once he was about ten meters away from him, Shen, with all his might, sent his combat stick, the latter whirling in the air and violently striking the horse's front legs, which was then destabilized and fell, with his rider rolling in the dust.  
Once the man was on the ground, Shen jumped, his eyes bulging with anger he could no longer restrain, and hit the man in the jaw with great brutality, with his foot. The blood spurted as well as several teeth, and the crunch of the jaw and part of the skull was clearly heard.  
The other two horsemen, bewildered, saw their comrade fall to the ground, his face bleeding and his jaw broken, and this stranger, recovering his combat stick on the ground and now heading towards them, with the same glare. Dare to kill unarmed innocents, women and children, who are slaves ..... Shen had a lot of tolerance, maybe even too much for a race like humans, but even him could have his limits .... Twirling his combat stick with agility around him, Shen almost make the air dancing around him, preparing to give a good correction to these two bastards.  
************   
Daenerys, on the back of her dragon, finally arrived near the Great Pyramid. Turning around it from the air, the queen watched with great caution, paying attention to possible archers who could stand on the heights and balconies.  
But suddenly, her eyes widened ... her heart jumped and she immediately stopped Drogon.  
On the large balcony of the royal apartments at the top of the pyramid stood several people, one of whom she recognized immediately, despite the many wounds that now covered her body and face ...  
_ "DAARIO!!" Daenerys yelled in the wind.  
He was alive! But in what state ..... dressed in prisoner rags, body and dirty hair, he was barely standing up and no reacting, and worse yet, one of his eyes was missing .... he had been tortured with a extreme savagery ....  
Daario was surrounded by five men, two of them holding him and threatening him with daggers on his throat. The five men were dressed very richly, with rings and other finger pleats and around the neck. The new great masters of the new empire slavery, as they claimed to be.  
Atone anxious but filled with rising angel that she had to hold inside, Daenerys brought Drogon up to them. Seeing the imposing dragon appears in front of them in the air, the masters quell, their faces with fear, but hid behind their only shield: Daario. Drogon roared with extreme ferocity, eager to devour or burn them, but Daenerys held him back.  
_ "Let him go and surrender!" Daenerys shouted fiercely, her heart pounding. One of the master slavers stepped forward, making sure the others held Daario, and spoke up.  
_ "You are not in a position to give us orders, queen of nothing! It is rather me who warns you: if you don't order your troops to retreat, we will cut the throat of your friend!!"  
The blade of the knife touched the skin of Daario's throat, threatening to cut it at any moment. The man seemed far too weak to struggle and glanced half-conscious towards Drogon and Daenerys.  
What to do? Daenerys hesitated. If she persisted, Daario would be killed before her eyes, but if she agreed to make her troops retreat, there was no guarantee that the masters would spare his life. They were just lies and cruelty, she could never trust them. What to do? She felt trapped. Without denying it, the idea of unleashing Drogon's fire on the masters, leading to Daario's sacrifice, had crossed her mind, but she could not do it. Ser Barristan, Ser Jorah, Missandei, Kinvara .... she had already lost too many dear friends ..... the guilt of their death was already gnawing at her, she did not want to add Daario's death to his conscience ... Drogon, always flapping his wings to keep himself in the air, was growling louder and louder, his only still valid eye burning with an immense bloodlust towards the masters.  
_ "Disappear with your flying monster, or this man will die!!" warned the master again with contempt and nervosity, while behind him the other masters threatened Daario with their daggers. Daenerys was trapped, unable to abandon him. She then saw Daario slowly open his eye, looking directly at her and giving him a little complicit smile as he knew how to do it. Daenerys also noticed that one of the masters, the youngest of them, in his twenties, was standing further back and seemed less confident than the others. He did not even seem to adhere to what the other masters were doing but was forced to follow them.  
Suddenly, as if taken by a second wind and a surge of strength, Daario pushed the blade of the knife from his throat, elbowing a violent nudge that broke the nose of the master who held it, and then blasted more violent blows. to the other masters around him, the latter, more than surprised, having no time to react and retreated.  
_ "Daario!!" Daenerys shouted as he saw him doing and manipulating Drogon to get closer to the balcony.  
One of the masters wanted to stab Daario in the back, but the young master of twenty, surprisingly, interposed and blocked the arm of his comrade and gave him a blow, saving the life of the former mercenary. Daenerys also noticed it. Unfortunately, the master who had threatened Daenerys approached and managed to stab Daario at the ribs, paralyzing him in extreme pain.  
_ "NOOOOOOOO!!" Daenerys shouted, under the furious roars of Drogon.  
Overcome by the energy of despair and pain, and managing to get rid of his enemy from him, Daario, the blood flowing from his wound, ran and jumped without hesitation over the stone rail of the balcony, throwing himself into the void. Having guessed what he was planning to do because she know him, Daenerys held out her hand as far as possible. Daario managed to grasp it, and with his other hand, clinging to the dragon's scales, but struggling against the excruciating pain of his wound and to maintain himself.  
_ "Hang on!!" Daenerys yelled at the edge of tears, struggling with all her strength to hold Daario's hand. After struggling against pain and exhaustion, drawing on his ultimate strength, Daario, with Dany's help, manages to pull himself on Drogon's back. Half conscious, the former mercenary barely breathed, the blood still flowing from his wound. Daenerys held him against her to prevent him from falling, the blood staining her armor.  
_ "Y ..... you're back ...." Daario whispered in a very weak voice.  
_ "Daario, no, stay with me!! Don't do this to me!" Daenerys almost ordered him, desperate to see him like this.  
On the balcony, the masters, now deprived of their precious hostage, then gazed with great fear on the dark eyes of the great dragon harpooning them. Daario having sunk into unconsciousness, Daenerys, too, replaced her despair with a black anger. Clenching her teeth, nascent flames in her irises, she stared at the frightened masters.  
_ "Dracarys," she said in a tone more than scornful to them. Seeing her, the panicked masters all fled inside the pyramid, before the torrent of flames fell. The columns of scarlet fire rushed through the doors, blowing the balcony into pieces under pressure, and engulfed the high masters and their royal apartments in a cloud of flames and black smoke. Hearing their screams in the fog of fire and smoke, Daenerys, however, showed no empathy towards them. "The blood of my enemies will flow....not the blood of the innocents...." she remembered it in her mind.   
*********   
Having managed to defeat the last pockets of resistance, Grey Worm and his unsullied soldiers had arrived at the gates of the pyramid, to see, towards the summit, the great Drogon unleashing his breath of fire on the heights of the building and covering it with his fire. The other two dragons, Joreas and Mirrandes, smaller but faster, arrived from the air and began to turn around the pyramid, also spitting their flames, more modest, to help their big brother.   
Yara and the ironborns from the port, Shen-zoan from the trading square, and Ser Cade and the dothrakis from outside the city, all could contemplate the great black dragon attacking the pyramid and destroying part of its summit .  
Seeing what had just happened, the enslaved soldiers seemed to lose all will to fight and one after the other, decided to drop their weapons at their feet and surrender. Seeing this, and remembering the clear orders of the queen Targaryen, Yara signaled to her ironborns to do them no harm. Showing a big proud smile, she turned to her troops.  
_ "Guys ..... the city is ours!!" she yelled, raising her blood-stained sword, and followed by the screams of triumph of her men.  
**********  
Few hours later.....  
Gradually, calm had returned to the city invaded by smoke and strewn with the many corpses. Ser Cade and his knights, as well as dothrakis and war elephants, had managed to put the second sons to flight. The ironborns maintained complete control of the port and all the ships, and the unsullied had managed to break down the gates of the pyramid. Casualties has been average and the victory was total.   
The many slaves, now free, had gathered in front of the Great Pyramid. Grey Worm and his soldiers stood in perfect line, making a barrier to maintain the large number of slaves eager to come and see their savior.  
Before the doors of the pyramid, Daenerys stood there, on the floor, dressed in her armor and looking at all those eyes, those grateful faces and their voices calling "mhysa" coming to her ears. At her side stood her faithful allies: Yara, Shen, Grey Worm, and Ser Cade, all looking with more or less pride at what they had accomplished with the Mother of Dragons. Mira, the young maid, had joined her queen and was standing next to her, smiling too. Joreas and Mirrandes, the two young dragons, were in front of their mother, watching all that was happening with curiosity. Daenerys gently caressed their heads. At the top of the still-smoking pyramid stood the great and powerful Drogon, thus dominating the whole city and uttering a mighty roar of triumph.  
Although victorious, Daenerys only half smiles. His thoughts were very much directed towards Daario, who had been taken care of, but for now, had not woken up.  
_ "Your grace ..... they are waiting for your word ..." Mira's voice suddenly said, pulling Dany out of her thoughts. Indeed, the silence was made and all seemed to wait for what their queen and savior had to say to them.  
Sustained morally by her allies, the young silver-haired queen stepped forward, her two young dragons by her side and in a loud, clear voice, spoke for all the freed slaves who were now listening to her.  
_ "Not so long ago, I dared to abandon you, for a quest that I thought was more legitimate than anything but that proved to be only a path of suffering and illusory .... I thought I was not in my place here, but I was mistaken ..... Because of my stubbornness, you suffered the consequences, and that I could never repair it totally .... I swore to build a better world and that's what I will do here, with you ..... "  
Daenerys spoke without hesitation, with unprecedented firmness and determination, and listened to by everyone.  
_ "... I tell you and swear, here and now, that Meereen will become the cradle of this new world that we will build together. And our enemies will only see the strength in our eyes, they will only hear the determination in our voices, and will then know what you really are: free men and women!! I, Daenerys stormborn of house Targaryen, breaker of chains, proclaims here and now the death of tyranny!!"  
She had spoken with all her heart and soul. The reaction that followed was unprecedented, the large crowd of former slaves starting to proclaim, louder and louder, "MHYSA! MHYSA! MHYSA!!"  
Daenerys listened to them, feeling her heart lighten up from the heavy weight she had been carrying for so long. Proud of their queen's speech, Grey Worm, Ser Cade, Yara, Shen and Mira smiled too.  
Daenerys then did something to definitely prove her good faith: without fear, she stepped forward, the unsullied ones deviating respectfully from her path and letting her come to the men, women, and children she had saved.  
Daenerys walked in the middle of all those grateful faces, old or young, and let their hands touch her armor, her silver hair, her face, knowing they would not do anything wrong ...  
Two former slaves with very stocky bodies then carried Daenerys on their shoulders, showing her in plain view. Hundreds of hands reached out to the young silver queen, hands she touched with hers. From their observation position, Yara and the others watched with some admiration.  
_ "Every day that passes, she continues to impress me. Who would have thought that a girl exiled without wealth or power could acquire such strength." Yara said while looking. Shen could only but agree.  
_ " As from a simple river can be born an ocean, or a spark can give birth to a fire, it is often from nothing that the greatest exploits are born, and she is the living proof of it." Yi Ti's man simply replied with a smile.


	19. Part 19

Riverrun, The Riverlands, Westeros

Alerted by one of his men who arrived with unprecedented haste, Lord Edmure Tully, the current lord of Riverrun, arrived in the courtyard of his castle, escorted by several guards. What was his surprise and his terror at the sight of thirty corpses, all put in line under sheets. All around, the other guards and servants of the castle watched with horror. Edmure, trying to ignore the filthy smell of blood and rotting flesh, lifted one of the sheets, to discover the corpse of a young peasant woman in her twenties, horribly mutilated. Edmure was shocked. He had never seen such savagery. Seeing the bloody and deep marks on the flesh of the woman, he almost believed to see there bites inflicted by a bloodthirsty and crazy beast.  
_"Seven hells ..." he sighed in disgust, before turning to the guards who had brought the corpses back on board a plow. "Who committed this massacre?"  
_ "We don't know, my lord ..." the guard explained, visibly shocked "... we found them like that, a few leagues from here. A whole village, completely devastated. There had no survivors, not even children."  
That did not help much. Edmure sighed heavily, completely overwhelmed by this abnormal event. He would have to inform King Bran of it without further delay. But as he walked to the door to return inside the castle, the gasping and horrified voices of several people froze him.  
_ "Oh gods ..... this ..... this corpse ..... it .... it moved!"  
Edmure turned to see all these frozen subjects, showing faces full of intense fear. And when he saw what they saw, he did the same. One of the corpses had just make a move under the sheet, letting hear crunches of bones and grunts, and under the eyes of all, got up very slowly, revealing his lacerated face of bites, ragged clothes, and eyes an icy blue in a look void of any spark of life. Edmure and all his subjects, speechless and stunned with fear, stepped back several steps, while this corpse fixed his blue eyes towards them, letting out an inhuman grunt of his mouth which vomited a trickle of blood. Around him, the one after the other, the other corpses began to move, then to stand on their feet, cracking their joints like dislocated puppets.  
Suddenly, the living corpses, in a concert of beast shrieks, rushed like wild animals on the people closest to them. Two of them jumped on a guard caught off guard and once on the ground, he began screaming atrociously as the two dead tore his flesh with their teeth. Panic and chaos began, the servants starting to run in all directions to escape, pursued by the dead. Several guards, frightened, abandoned their weapons and fled too.   
A servant was cornered and devoured by three dead, under the eyes of Edmure, completely paralyzed. He came back to reality when two guards seized him by the shoulders to take him with them inside the castle, while the court gradually turned into a bloodbath, the servants and the guards being overwhelmed by one after the other. Already the first victims of the dead opened their eyes, turned blue, and joined the ranks.  
_ "Close the doors! Barricade them!!" shouted Edmure back to reality, once inside the castle.  
From the top of the ramparts, the guards could see with horror what was happening, without understanding what was happening. Then, their attention was drawn to the outside of the castle. In the darkness of the cold night, rising from behind the hills encircling the castle, hordes of blue-eyed undead, all dressed in rags of peasants or some wearing armors and some even dressed in noble clothes, arrived to the castle in all speed, their roars piercing the silence that reigned before.  
In the Eyrie, the situation had become identical. The villages of the Vale had also been decimated by a strange evil, and the inhabitants had recovered as undead. Vale's Castle was now besieged by hordes of living corpses, just as the Twins were now. At Dorne, hordes of wights crossed the desert without stopping, devastating all the towns and villages on their way, enlarging their numbers and besieging the capital, Sunspear. The Westerlands are ravaged, villages and castles are devastated one after the other, and hordes of blue-eyed undead climb the ramparts of Casterly Rock, home of the Lannister family, invading and slaughtering it the garrison of soldiers there. Throughout Westeros, the shadow of the dead spreads, bringing the winter with it, sweeping everything in its path and growing, ready to swallow the whole world in its veil.  
***********   
Winterfell, Westeros

Sansa had never run so fast in her life and immediately closed the door to her quarters, blocking the door behind her and leaning against the wall, panting and terrified. Not far away, in one of the corridors, the yells of guards were heard, as well as the roars of wights flinging at them to kill them, spilling blood abundantly.   
Putting her hands on her mouth to keep from screaming in fear at hearing the butchering, Sansa, tears in her eyes, could not believe what was happening ..... it was starting again!  
Like ghosts, the dead had appeared in the night, by the hundreds, all around the city and had climbed the walls without the garrison could do anything to stop them as they were numerous. In just an hour, Winterfell had been completely submerged and invaded. The streets were now devastated, filled with corpses returning to life one after the other, and a strong smell of death reigned. The whole garrison had been completely decimated in a short time under the excessive number of wights that had fallen on Winterfell like a tidal wave. From now on, the city of winter was dominated by the dead, lurking in the streets looking for survivors.  
Sansa had curled up in the back of her room, with her bed as the ultimate barrier, and in tears, heard grunts from several dead, beating violently behind the door to try to open it. She had no way to escape.  
Suddenly, the banging and yelling stopped and the silence returned. Trembling like a leaf, Sansa listened, and then heard slow, slow footsteps coming up behind the door.  
Without warning, the door was struck and fell back after a powerful blow. Sansa, huddled against the wall, was paralyzed with astonishment, her round eyes shedding tears, staring with unmatched shock on the blue-eyed figure who had opened the door and was now standing in front of her.  
_ "No ..... it's impossible ..... not you ....." she sighed without being able to speak more as the shock was immense, while the shadow of the silhouette advancing slowly towards her, covered her more and more.  
Meanwhile, outside, hidden in a grove of pines nearby, Tyrion, Brienne, Samwell and Meera watched in horror the city of Winterfell, in the grip of the flames and attacked from all sides by such a large army of dead than the first, maybe even more. Brienne could no longer speak, shocked to the highest degree, knowing that Lady Sansa was inside. Samwell seated himself against a tree, and could only cry. Tyrion and Meera, too, were utterly downcast by this apocalyptic vision, knowing that they could do nothing to change that. They had tried to arrive first, but unfortunately the dead had been faster than them.  
_ "Come on ...." said Meera, morose, taking her bow on her shoulder ".... we must not stay here."  
*************   
Meereen, Essos

Shen-zoan was sitting on a wooden crate, finishing the last adjustments. He held in his hands a medium-sized ball, made of thick ropes entangled one on the other to form a sort of ball. A group of former child slaves had gathered around him, both intrigued and impressed, watching him doing this with rare skill.  
Once finished, Shen introduced them to the round object made of ropes and to show them how to use it, kicked it in, making it rolling to the ground. Amused, the children of Meereen thanked him and went in pursuit of the ball of ropes, kicking in, under the eyes of parents, also amused. Shen watched them go away, with a slight smile. These poor children, most of whom were very thin, had not often had to play in their short lives, which was sad. So many years of innocence lost because of unscrupulous monsters who possessed them as one possesses a dog.  
Shen resumed his march through the marketplace of the city. Since Queen Daenerys had regained power, trade had become more liveable. Many shops spread along the streets, and the slaves, now free and having received money formerly belonging to the masters, came to buy food. Since the return of the mother of the dragons, R'hllor's red priests had also returned to the city, some of them perched on crates, proclaiming the merits and good deeds of the princess who was promised, drawing people's attention around them who came to listen to them.  
Shen walked around, staring around him, feeling the different smells of the market coming to tickle his nostrils, All this under the warm and pleasant sun of this early afternoon.  
_ "Shen-zoan windwalker ...." then made a feminine voice, filled with a certain mystery just at the tone and that tore a shudder from the man of Yi Ti. Puzzled, Shen then noticed this strange woman, with short dark hair and a concealed face behind a bronze mask that only revealed her deep, intriguing eyes, which stared at Shen without ever blinking once. The people walking around her did not seem to pay attention, as if they did not see her.  
_ "Who are you and how do you know my name?" Shen asked as she came in front of her.  
_ "Who am I or how do I know, it doesn't matter." she replied very calmly "... the most important thing is to protect the life of the young dragon queen."  
_ "Explain yourself." Shen asked, a little suspicious, but curiously, ready to listen to him anyway.   
The mysterious masked woman approached him, almost touching him, and still stared at him with the same intensity, as if probing his soul.  
_ "The queen has joined her right throne, but the true victory is yet to come ... the one who once had a name but is now no one is always in the surroundings, lurking in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to arise and give back the due who was promised to the death."  
Shen then guessed what she meant, and a bad presentiment went through him.   
_ "Soon ...." continued the masked woman "... when the moon is full again, the wind and the shadow will clash, and then a life will be paid ...... a life for a life...."  
The wind and the shadow will clash .... this curious phrase brought Shen back to his past, when he was a child and followed the teachings of his master .... to that nightmare that he often did at nights.... he was in a dark and terrifying place, facing a faceless shadow, very fast and silent, armed with a dagger and trying to kill him ...and each time, Shen and the shadow fell,  together, in the void... it always happened on nights of full moon .... and every time he waked up, he could hear the distant howling of an animal in the mountains ..... the howling of a wolf ....  
Shen blinked, and the moment he reopened them, the woman had disappeared. More than perplexed, Shen looked all around him to try to see her, but nothing, no trace of her. However, he noticed that the few red priests and red priestesses present on the market square, had stopped their speeches and had all turned their eyes towards him, staring at him with the same intensity, as if through their eyes, they knew something that he himself would soon discover. The wind and the shadow will face each other ... the wind and the shadow will confront each other ... this phrase was constantly repeated in his mind as he walked away, returning to the heights of the city, towards the pyramid.  
************   
Daario was still in a state between life and death, constantly being looked after by the best healers in the city. What the masters had inflicted on him was simply monstrous, inhuman, and just thinking about that was enough to make Daenerys clench her fists. What she had inflicted on the masters responsible for these tortures was a necessity, and she had no regrets about her decision. Nobody would regret those monsters who dared to call themselves humans. Several times, Daenerys had gone to the bedside of Daario, hoping to see him open his eyes and get out of his unconsciousness, but nothing for now, alas.  
Having resumed her position of queen of Meereen, Daenerys Targaryen was now in the throne room, sitting on her seat at the top of pale stone steps surrounded by small pools of clear water. Dressed in an elegant dress of light blue silk set with small red rubies around the waist, the dragon queen today received the requests and tributes of former slaves.   
 Ser Cade and Grey Worm, as good commanders, were in charge of the queen's personal guard, standing on either side, straight like statues. The young servant Mira played the role of translator and brought the next people to come and see the queen.  
A poor young woman dressed in rags and her young girl, less than ten years old, both arrived very timidly and bowed at the feet of the steps.  
_ "You can get up. Come closer, please." said Daenerys warmly, smiling to reassure the shy little girl who was hiding behind her mother. So young and having already experienced the horrors of slavery, as evidenced by the numerous scars on her little arms, inflicted by the whips of the masters. Brands that she would keep until the end of her life. Daenerys swallowed, but forced herself to focus on the conversation. The mother began to speak in the Meereen dialect, which Mira translated for the queen.  
_ "Her name is Fama, and here is her only daughter, Lyes. Both were slaves before your grace freed them from their torment. Lyess doesn't dare to say it here, but she tells her mother that the silver queen is very beautiful."  
_ "Thank you for this compliment, dear child." replied Daenerys with a smile, while Mira undertook to translate the queen's response. "Believe me that I'm glad I was able to help give you a better life, and that I will not stop until the day that slavery is totally eradicated. If you need something, let us know and I will help you."  
The mother and daughter smiled in turn, and Mira translated what the mother said next.  
_ "They thank you from the bottom of their hearts and will pray for you every day, as well as for your valiant allies."  
Daenerys thanked them with a sincere nod. Fama and Lyess having finished, and after bowing one last time in respect, left the room.  
_ "Are there any others?" Daenerys asked his servant.  
_ "No, my queen, they were the last ones for today."  
In a way, Daenerys was relieved to hear it, feeling a little tired. In recent days, she had more and more stomach pains, which had considerably rounded. She even already felt moves in her belly. The baby was growing inside her. Assisted by Gray Worm, Daenerys rose from his seat and followed by Mira, left the room to head for her private apartments at the top of the pyramid.  
***********   
The afternoon had passed without incident and as the first gleams of the new twilight tinged the sky, Shen-zoan walked down the halls of the pyramid, crossing the path of several unsullied guards doing their patrols, and headed towards the apartments of Queen Daenerys. The royal apartments occupied by the high masters having been ravaged by the fire of Drogon, the Targaryen queen had installed her new quarters elsewhere in the pyramid.  
On arriving, Shen found the young woman on the large stone balcony, gazing in silence at the magnificent overview of the city of Meereen and its surroundings, while the red sun lay nonchalantly behind the distant mountains. Daenerys turned around, holding a glass of wine in her hand, and looked at Shen, who greeted her with a short bow.  
_ "You asked to see me, Shen?" she said while coming back inside the room.  
_ "That's right, my queen." Yi Ti's man confirmed, hands behind his back. "I wanted to give you something. Or let's just say it's a gift for your future child."   
Daenerys, rather intrigued, sits on her big bed with silk sheets and sees her Yi-Tish friend reveal something he hid behind his back. It was a small pendant made of a simple little black string, and a small greenish gem cut in the shape of a dragon's head, in the hand, no bigger than a cherry. The stone reflected the glow of the sun on its surface, making it shine with a thousand green lights. Fascinated by the beauty of the object, Daenerys gladly took it in his hands to admire it more closely.  
_ "What is this green stone? I had never seen before." she asked, admiring the object.   
_ "We call it Jade. There are a lot of deposits in Yi Ti. I cutted it during my slave captivity in Astapor, and I was planning to offer it to a slave girl from Naath with whom I sympathized, but unfortunately, I could never offered to her. "  
At the mention of the young slave woman of Naath, Daenerys froze, as she was going to drink a sip of wine. Her perplexed gaze remained fixed on Shen-zoan, who seemed a little astonished at her reaction.  
_ "This .... this woman .... what was her name?" asked Daenerys, though already thinking of knowing the answer that was coming.  
_ "Missandei." Shen answered immediately, then seeing the queen's reaction. Daenerys went pale, putting the glass on the little table near the bed. The reaction of Queen Targaryen did not escape Shen.  
_"From what I heard, you know her..." Shen-zoan said. Daenerys, feeling her throat knot and horrible visions of the past come back to her mind, could only confirm and nodded her head gently, holding back tears from being born at the corners of her eyes.  
_ "She became my maid when I freed her to Astapor, but she never told me about you ... How is it?" Daenerys says, in turn intrigued. Shen showed a half smile, while examining his Jade stone in his hands.  
_ "Actually, she thought I was dead ..." he told to the Queen Daenerys "... In Astapor, I was at the service of her master, Kraznys. One day, he was brutally angry against Missandei and started to hit her. I could not bear to see that and shoved Kraznys away from her. In punishment, he made me beaten in the public square by his guards, forcing Missandei to look..." while explaining, he undid his shirt and showed the skin of his back, covered with scars and marks of blows that had never been erased. Daenerys shuddered.  
_ "...They beat me with so much violence and force ...." he continued "... that I fell into unconsciousness for several days.To punish more Missandei, Kraznys surely makes her believe in my death, in order to break her ..... When I woke up, the city of Astapor had just been liberated by the one that the former slaves now called the silver queen... the former slaves who had chosen to stay in order to start a new life had taken care of me, telling me that Missandei had left with this silver haired queen, as well as all the unsullied ..... After recovering, and now free, I went back in my journey, and you know what follows next..."  
Daenerys had listened to everything without losing a word, and this time could not hold back a tear from flowing on her cheek, which she wiped quickly with her hand. Shen had defended Missandei and risked his life for her. Such devotion to a person could only mean one thing .... Shen was he ....?  
_ "My queen .... Forgive me for showing me so insistent, but ..... I would like to know where Missandei is now ... Has she returned to Naath, in her family?" Shen asked, with a semblance of hope. However, his smile disappeared very quickly at the sight of the sorry face of the queen towards him.  
_ "Missandei .... is dead .... murdered in Westeros ....... she was more than a maid in my eyes .... she was a friend, a confidante .... she was never stop believing in me, and it's that loyalty in me that killed her ...... I'm so sorry, Shen .... I was not able to protect her, unlike you .... "  
Daenerys spoke with a voice tied by a still very present pain of the loss of Missandei. She gently placed her hand on Shen's. The man of Yi Ti does not say a word anymore, his face having closed, and shedding no tears.  
_ "I see ....." he said, very calmly "... I ... can I leave, your grace?"  
Daenerys, guessing his sorrow in the tone of his voice, agreed. Leaving Jade's pendant to the Queen Targaryen as agreed, Shen turned back, without looking back, and left the royal apartments, under the desolate look of Daenerys, who was now alone, with her painful memories, and took in her fine hand the pendant she would give to her child once he was born.  
***********   
Night had now fallen on the bay, the thousands of stars having spilled into the big dark veil of the sky. Taking advantage of the cool evening breeze, Drogon, Joreas and Mirrandes flew winged high above the city, making hear their chants in the air.  
Shen-zoan had left the city, walking with his combat stick of wood, and was now on one of the great hills of rocks and sand that surrounded the city.   
He picked up all the smooth, flat pebbles that he found on the floor in the night, to assemble them in a small pile at the top of the hill, like a sort of little funerary monument. There, he plucked a blue wild flower rocked by the wind and put it on the stones to complete the burial, in memory of Missandei.  
Kneeling in the dust, facing the burial stone, Shen-zoan joined the dish with both hands, as in his culture, and closing his eyes, addressed a prayer.  
The lips were slightly shaking, Shen felt a tear run down his cheek ... he did not try to retain it ... not for the young woman from Naath he had fallen in love with, and that unfortunately, he could not find, nor protect her.....  
************   
Meanwhile, in the pyramid of Meereen, and before the late hour, Daenerys Targaryen decided to go to bed, after a last glass of wine.  
But while she was getting ready to drink, the queen froze, her eyes wide, and suddenly dropped her glass which crashed on the floor, while the queen leaned forward, assailed by an intense and furtive pain at the level of her belly.  
Alerted by the din of the glass and the moans of pain of their queen, Mira, Yara, and Grey Worm immediately ran into the room and came to assist their sovereign.  
_ "My queen, what's going on? !!" Mira asked, more than worried.  
_ "The ..... the baby ...... he .... he's coming ....." Daenerys managed to articulate, suffering more and more and supported by her maid. Immediately, Grey Worm turned to the guards who had accompanied him.  
_ "Go get the midwifes, right now!"  
The other two unsullied did not wait and ran out of the room.  
_ "Mira ...." Yara said, supporting Daenerys by a shoulder "... help me put her on the bed!"  
Assisted by Yara and Mira, Daenerys was lying on her big bed, moaning and writhing with increasing pain. Outside, in the night sky of Essos, Drogon, Mirrandes and Joreas began to sing much louder roars, giving the illusion of sounding beyond the seas and mountains, as an announcement of the coming from one of theirs ....


	20. Part 20

Essos, Yi Ti 

The Mountains of the Morn, large mountain ranges located in the far east of the country of Yi Ti and marking its border. Beyond these mountains would be, according to legends, a great sea, named Hidden Sea, and on the edge of which, in the north, would be a city equally mysterious, inhabited according to the words by winged men able to fly as well as the birds.  
These gigantic mountains and far removed from any trace of civilization, was a perfect place to live in recluse, despite the many dangers that could be hidden there.  
In the most remote mountains, far from everything, there was nevertheless a trace of human life, however small it may be.  
Built on a mountainside and bordering an immense unfathomable precipice filled with a sea of infinite fog, was a large red and gray stone edifice, similar to a temple, as big as the red keep of King's Landing, and whose grand entrance at the top of steps was guarded by large statues carved by hand, in the shape of great dragons with bodies of serpents, undulating and roaring silent with their jaws of stone. In the sky streaked with purple, the sun was slowly falling asleep, gradually disappearing behind the horizon.  
Sitting on the ground in front of the temple in the light evening breeze, near the edge of the cliff, a man was leaning over his work, busy weaving a wicker basket with his hands marked with very detailed Yi Ti symbols. The bald head, the skin slightly pale yellow, he was dressed in a simple scarlet tunic and closed with a black belt, giving him the appearance of a monk. Like his hands, his face was tattooed from side to side, a dragon being tattooed on his forehead very precisely. His eyes, fully veiled, indicated his lack of sight. But despite this handicap, the man managed to weave the wicker stems together without difficulty.  
The small campfire lit on his right suddenly crackled in a surprising way, a thin column of ash rising and floating just in front of him, before dissipating into the air. The man then immediately stopped his work, in the greatest calm, and turned his blind gaze to the crackling flames, their light reflected in the white of his dead eyes.  
For long minutes he stared at the throbbing flames, as if he saw something there. "Hmmmmm ...." he sighed softly in his calm voice, and gave a half-smile at the corner of his gray lips. His face then turned to the setting sun on the horizon, as well as the other gigantic peaks of the graying mountain range in the dying twilight.  
_ "Here it is ..... the dragon's blood is about to be reborn ..." he murmured. Behind him, smokes began to escape through the windows of the temple, as well as the loud sounds of drums, beating in a steady rhythm, coming from within.  
Still seated on the edge of the cliff, taking a deep breath, the man began to sing a deep and powerful chorus. From the inside of the temple, similar chants came to accompany him, thus forming an even more powerful choir which accompanied the drums, resounded more and more through the mountains and beyond, as if the whole world would hear this harmonious song announcing the coming of a very important event.  
During the singing, coming from the surrounding peaks, large and majestic forms rose in the sky, waving their elongated bodies, and hinting in the distance, their ferocious and elegant roars.  
*************  
Essos, Meereen

_ "AAAAAAAAAH!!!.... AAAAAAAAAAH!!!"  
Daenerys's cries of pain echoed through the room. It had been going on for several hours and the night was already well advanced. The queen of the dragoons, lying in her bed in her royal apartments at the top of the pyramid, struggled with all her strength to give birth to her child in the best possible conditions, all under the guidance of the three midwives surrounding her, two of them taking care of mopping up the brow of the young queen and supporting her, while the third, the most experienced, stood ready to take the baby when he went out.  
_ "Very well, your grace ...." says the experienced midwife "... keep it up ... breathe .... and push!"  
Daenerys inhaled, in tears, her face sweaty and grimacing with pain, and pushed with all her strength, the pain being atrocious. This pain had rekindled in her rather painful memories, that of her first baby, Rhaego, stillborn, all because of the witch who had thrown her this curse and deprived her forever of having a child. And if it happened again? Would this other child be stillborn, diformous and monstrous? No, Daenerys refused to think of such horrors. She wanted to hope, that child she had wanted so much was about to come and bring a light into her life.  
Outside the royal apartments, in the great corridor illuminated by torches, the queen's closest allies were waiting in silence. Yara, Shen-Zoan, Grey Worm, Mira and Ser Cade, all remained idle, some showing more nervous expressions than others, hearing Queen Daenerys' cries of suffering. The maid Mira could not stop her nervousness, rubbing her hands nervously and fearing for the life of her queen and the baby. Standing, Grey Worm and Ser Cade, arms crossed, did not say a word and kept their faces closed. Yara was sitting in the corridor, nervously tapping her foot and seeing Shen come and sit beside her, calmer than she was. She offered him a sip of his beer bottle, but he politely refused.  
_ "We are living a historical moment ...." she commented after drinking "... For the first time, after years, a new Targaryen will be born."  
_ "The rebirth of a powerful dynasty ...." Shen replied, nodding his head gently "... the miracle of life, and welcomed by the songs of the dragons."  
Indeed, while listening, they could hear, outside, the roars of Drogon, Joreas and Mirrandes who for several hours, did not stop flying in circles above the pyramid, hinting their songs in the black night.  
_ "Do you think they know what is happening?" asked Ser Cade, also puzzled by the behavior of the dragons.  
_ "Dragons are smarter than many people think ..." Grey Worm answered with conviction.  
_"Indeed." Shen said, listened to by everyone. "More intelligent than humans, according to some scholars, which after all, would not surprise me. Humans like to think they are the smartest, wrong, and it is this belief that makes us not so smart in the end. After all, how can we show our intelligence if we are not even enough to guess it in others?"  
A heavy sentence that had just been put by the man of Yi Ti, and which, once again, led to reflection. Yara could only smile at Shen, who did the same to her.  
_ "Hmmm .... in the end, I'll take a sip." Shen asked humbly, pointing to the gourd. Yara gave him, and he took a long sip, without flinching. Yara was surprised.  
_ "Wow .... for a man who spends a lot of time meditating and preaching wise advice, you have a fucking good descent." Yara commented, almost admiringly.  
_ "You know, even the wise ones can get hangovers sometimes." Shen laughed, which made Yara laugh a little as well and gave the others a gentle smile, relaxing the atmosphere a little.  
Meanwhile, in the royal chamber, Daenerys was exhausted, feeling her breathing low and her vision troubled, but she refused to give up.  
_ "I see the head!" said the midwife, ready "Another effort and it's done! ... breathe ...... and .... push!!"  
Daenerys inhaled with all her strength, mentally preparing herself and pushing with all the strength she had, triggering an umpteenth terrible pain that made her scream even harder, making her allies who were waiting in the hallway, quiver. The hour of truth was going to ring ...... Life would it be there, or death would come down its veil again tonight?  
At the end of her strength, Daenerys collapsed back, the head on the pillow. With her eyes closed, panting, her heart beating, she then heard cries rise, and opening her eyes with difficulty, saw the midwife approaching the bed, holding in her arms a weeping little baby.  
_ "Congratulations, your grace .... it's a girl."  
Tears, of joy this time, flowed from the young queen's eyes as the midwife gently put the baby in her arms.  
Indeed, it was a little girl, perfectly human and alive. For Daenerys, it was a real miracle that came alive before her eyes. Not being able to stop the tears of joy from running, she gently huddled her child against her, in the bed.  
_ "My little ..... my very little one...." Daenerys sighed, invaded by the happiness she had hoped so much to live one day and which, thanks to R'hllor's will, could have come true. With the utmost delicacy, Daenerys, thanking inwardly all the gods possible and imaginable, hugged her child against her and giving her a tender kiss on the forehead.  
At first worried, the faces of everyone in the corridor cleared when the crying of a small childish voice began to resound from the royal apartments. Mira smiled like a child, a tear of joy rising in her eye. Yara, Shen, Grey Worm and Ser Cade all looked at each other with reassured smiles as the midwife came out of the royal apartments to meet them.  
_"Well?" Mira asked, still worried about the queen.  
_ "The queen is fine, and the baby too ... it's a perfectly healthy little girl."  
Although very exhausted, Queen Daenerys had asked that her close allies and friends come to the royal apartments, to see and welcome the little princess Targaryen who had just been born, thereby reviving the chances of the great dynasty to live.  
Yara, Shen, Grey Worm, Ser Cade, and Mira walked silently into the large room to see Queen Daenerys, seated in her bed, dressed in her large Volantis silk dressing gown, and holding preciously in her arms the little girl, huddled against her mother and having stopped crying. Daenerys smiled at her allies and invited the young maid Mira to come closer and see the baby more closely.  
_ "She is beautiful ...." Mira commented, moved. "What is her name?"  
Daenerys had already chosen a name and said it with great pride, in front of all.  
_ "Rhaellys .... Rhaellys Targaryen."  
Grey Worm, Ser Cade, Shen-Zoan and Yara Greyjoy then all bowed respectfully, hands on their chests.  
_ "We salute Princess Rhaellys Targaryen, first of her name." said Grey Worm forcefully, on behalf of all the others. Daenerys was touched by such dedication by her allies and thanked them. Without them, and without the sacrifices of other ones, she would never have been able to get here. Sheltered in her mother's arms, little Rhaellys moaned softly, then opened her little eyes for the first time, revealing very particular irises, the one on the left having a beautiful Amethyst color and the right one being black and deep. Daenerys was somewhat surprised at this peculiarity, but it did not detract from the love she already felt for this child. Having kept the little pendant adorned with the jade stone that Shen had given him, Daenerys took it and put it around Rhaellys's neck.  
_ "Well .... I think we should let our queen and her daughter rest quietly..." Shen suggested, which the others nodded and after greeting Daenerys with respect, left the royal apartments one by one. Daenerys remained alone in her royal apartments, very gently cradling her daughter and giving him a kiss on the forehead. Rhaellys began to cry.  
_ "You're hungry, huh? ..... It's time for your first meal ..." Daenerys smiled, then gave her daughter a breast to allow him to drink the milk and appease her hunger.  
Meanwhile, and despite the late hour of the night, Yara did not feel like going to sleep right away.  
_ "I'm going to go tell the good news to my guys, and go celebrate with a lot of beer, who's coming with me?"  
Grey Worm and Ser Cade, although very serious soldiers, decided this time to make an exception and accepted the proposal. Mira, having maid obligations with Queen Targaryen, had to decline the offer politely. Shen did not answer right away and showed a somewhat concerned face, and then motioned for Yara to come talk to him, a little out of the way.  
_ "What's happening to you, Shen?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Are you not happy to have seen the revival of the Targaryen dynasty?"  
_ "Of course I am, but ...." he replied with some trepidation "... For the first time in many years, a Targaryen is born. The birth of the princess Rhaellys will not remain a secret eternally. Sooner or later, the news will spread throughout Essos, and beyond its borders .... Some will rejoice in this news, but others may see it as a new threat. You told me, the queen still has many enemies in Essos, but also in this country .... Westeros.... "  
Yara had to admit that she had not thought about this case, and listened to Shen who spoke again, glancing at the royal apartments.  
_ "This child is more important than we think ... she represents the future of one of the most powerful dynasties in history ..... We will have to be even more cautious and protect her, she and her mother ..... Do not forget that an assassin is always after her ..... "  
_ "We will protect them ..." Yara affirmed, taking him by the shoulder forcefully "... we swore it and we will do it. I have already lost someone who was dear to me, and I refuse to relive that."  
Shen listened to him, and saw how Yara looked towards the royal apartments. He put his hand on her shoulder.  
_ "You will have to take a decision one day ..." he said "... do not let the doubt curb your desires, otherwise you will spend the rest of your life to regret it."  
***********  
That night, after taking a few drinks with Yara, Grey Worm and Ser Cade, Shen could hardly sleep, because once again, the nightmare of his childhood came back to haunt him.  
This same shadow, silent and agile, armed with a dagger and trying to kill him ..... the howling of a wolf, resonating in the distance ... him and this shadow, falling both, hunging to each other in a bottomless precipice .... and this time a new thing happened: after his vertiginous fall, Shen found himself in front of a huge wall of burning and crackling flames, which gradually emerged a form that he recognized as being himself! Shen, or a perfect copy of him, was facing him, with the difference that his bottomless eyes burned like braziers and that he held a large, burning stick in his hand.  
Shen was not the only one to have strange nightmares. Yara, she, was lost in the middle of the ocean, in a monstrous storm, on a ship completely abandoned and in the grip of huge waves. Theon then appeared, like a ghost, his bruised face, fiercely accusing Yara of being the cause of his death, that she had not been there to save him. Yara was helpless and could only listen to her late brother, who grabbed her by the throat with his hands and began to strangle her, his eyes wild of madness.  
Grey Worm sometimes relived the death of Missandei, which he witnessed helplessly. Often, he saw her again, Missandei accusing him of being weak and unable to act, and gradually moving away from him, Grey Worm trying desperately to hold her back, but seeing her vanish before him like a cloud smoke in the wind.  
***********  
The night was rather short and a timid sun finally rose from behind the high mountains of the East, gradually covering the city of Meerren with its veil of light.  
Queen Daenerys had managed to sleep after so much effort and suffering, but she did not regret it at all. Waking up at the same time as the sun, she sat in bed, watching her daughter Rhaellys sleep in her arms. She was so small, so fragile, a little innocent being in a world so cruel and brutal ... However, the eye to the black iris of her daughter had also recalled something to Daenerys .... the painful memory of someone who was once very important to her, her daughter's eye looking like his ..... Jon ..... it was not surprising that he was the father, given the strong relationship that had united him with Daenerys ... but after what he had done, she would never allow him to put his hand on her daughter, or even to approach her ..... The queen sighed with deep melancholy. She wanted so much that others of her close friends, like Missandei and Ser Jorah, are still here to see this day .... They would have been proud and happy for her, she was sure of it ..... She felt her throat knotted a little .... she missed them so much .... not a day passed without her having a thought for them, and for what they had done for her ....  
Daenerys regained her smile when a big shadow suddenly appeared. Perched on the pyramid, Drogon had leaned his big head over the balcony and emitting small neutral rumblings, watching curiously the baby who was in the arms of his mother. Joreas and Mirrandes, smaller, too, had come to observe.  
Although still a little weakened, Daenerys was able to get up from her bed, feeling the cool stone of the ground beneath her feet, and stepped forward, Rhaellys in her arms, onto the large balcony, in front of her dragons. Daenerys leut then made a sign not to make loud noises, the baby still sleeping deeply.  
_ "My children, I present to you .... well, your little sister .... Rhaellys." she said very softly to not awaken her. She allowed the three dragons to approach their heads of her, to see better, but with the utmost silence. From their reptilian eyes, they gazed at this tiny little creature for them, Drogon coming sniffing with his muzzle, only a yard away from Rhaellys' head. The three dragons showed no aggression, quite the contrary, and already seemed to take a liking to this new Targaryen baby. Daenerys rejoiced, knowing that one day, when her daughter was grown up, she would teach her how to make dragons obey her and establish a strong bond with them while knowing how to treat them with firmness, but also love and respect, as she had done it.  
Rhaellys came out of her sleep, moaning softly, and to Daenerys' great surprise, did not cry, looking at that great strange creature that was Drogon for her, without showing the slightest hint of fear towards him. Daenerys then saw Rhaellys' little hand coming to touch the tip of Drogon's snout, the latter allowing to be touched without any problem.  
***********  
The morning had passed in the most calm and the afternoon, very sunny, seemed to suggest it too. While life was in full swing in the many streets and alleys of the city, under the surveillance of unsullied soldiers patrols and knights of the golden dragons.  
Shen-Zoan went to the market place to order from a small merchant with whom he had been accustomed to trade since the liberation of the city. Shen arrived at the stall, the merchant and he greeting each other politely and Shen prepared his pay while the shopkeeper prepared, as agreed, the order that had been placed a few hours earlier.  
_ "By the way, how is the young maid Mira? I hope nothing bad happened to her." asked the merchant.  
_ "How's that? She's fine, I assure you." Shen answered, a little surprised at this question. The merchant seemed disconcerted.  
_ "Forgive my curiosity, sir, but I say that because she didn't come to get the last three orders she had received from the queen in person, and that she had to come here to pick them up. I found it strange."  
Shen also admitted that it was unusual, knowing Mira and her dedication to obeying Queen Daenerys. Mira had politely asked if he could go take the order on the market place, because she was very busy with the queen and her daughter. Being helpful, Shen had agreed to take this small order in charge. Yi Ti's man was thoughtful, but suddenly his heart squeezed and his eyes rounded with a monstrous doubt ..... Now that he thought about it ..... He was in the square of market, Grey Worm and Ser Cade were both patrolling with their men, and Yara was at the docks with her men .... but then Daenerys and her daughter were now alone with Mira in the pyramid.... and if..... "Oh no!" he thought suddenly.  
The merchant, dumbfounded, then saw Shen move away at high speed, running as fast as he could and making move away everyone in his path. Never had Shen run so fast, spinning almost like the wind and wanting to reach the pyramid as quickly as possible, hoping it will not be too late!  
_ "What an idiot .... but what an idiot I am!!" he kept thinking of it while running, his heart pounding with a huge fear, hoping to arrive in time to prevent the worst from happening.


	21. Part 21

Having remained in her royal apartments for a good part of the day to regain her strength, Daenerys paced slowly in the large room, and after feeding her daughter, cradled her gently in her arms, in a silk blanket while humming a little lullaby.  
_ "Mmmm mmmm ....  
Sleeps peacefully  
Spread your wings  
For the world of dreams  
My child, my girl  
Sleeps without fear  
Blood of my blood ...."  
Daenerys sang softly, and saw Rhaellys fall asleep, also cradled by the gentle east wind coming through the windows. Seeing her sleeping daughter, Daenerys laid her carefully on the big bed for her nap. Daenerys looked at her, as if she still could not realize she was real. She who thought she would die alone, taking with her the name of her dynasty, saw before her eyes the child who would save it.   
_ "Sleep, my sweet little silver sun ...." Daenerys murmured fondly, gently putting the comfortable blanket over her daughter, without waking her. Little silver sun was an emotional nickname she had found, this child being the comforting ray of sunshine that was finally brightening her life and giving her an extra reason to keep moving forward. Sooner or later, she should make her daughter known to the populace so that all come to pay homage to the little princess, but not today, the Queen still feeling too tired and eager to spend the first day with her daughter in the greater calm. These are Shen, Yara and Grey Worm who today would take care of citizens' requests.  
_ "It's a very beautiful lullaby, your grace ...." Mira whispered for not awake the baby, bringing a silver tray containing a glass of crystal wine and a goblet. "... Was it a lullaby that your mother sang to you when you were little?"  
Daenerys darkens a little.  
_ "Unfortunately, I never knew my mother, she died giving me life." she said while taking the glass of wine that her maid served to her.   
_ "Oh ... forgive me, your grace, I should not have ..." Mira replied, very embarrassed. Daenerys did not hold her responsible, how could she know? Having been deprived of her mother from birth, Daenerys had sworn that her daughter would not suffer the same fate. She would stay with her, always.  
_ "And ..... forgive me for asking this question, khaleesi, but ..... who is the father of the princess?" asked Mira humbly, a little embarrassed. Daenerys almost froze, beating heart. Once again, Jon's vision facing her and stabbing her crossed her mind like a painful flash that caused a small pain in her scar, which she gently glowed from her hand.  
_ "No one ...... and it doesn't matter anymore, he's dead." Daenerys said rather coldly, knowing that it was partly wrong but having decided so, leaving this past behind her forever. In a way, she was right....the man she loved, the man he was before, was dead. Mira looked sorry for her and after pouring wine, gave the cup to Daenerys who took a sip.  
Daenerys winced slightly, feeling a strange aftertaste in the wine and sniffed it, but not smelling any particular odor. Then, suddenly, she felt a strange sensation gradually invade her body, spreading in her muscles. A stifling heat invaded her and she could see her vision flickering, almost blinding her.  
_ "M .... Mira .... that .... what is ....?" stammered Daenerys, more and more stunned. She tried to stand against the table but felt her limbs stiffen and tipped to the floor, causing the silver tray and the jug of wine to break on the floor, spilling the liquid on the floor. The thud then woke Rhaellys who moaned and started crying.  
Half paralyzed on the floor, Daenerys could hear her daughter crying, and despite the powerful paralysis that was invading her body, she tried to crawl desperately to the bed to reach her daughter. Her belly hurt, she wanted to throw up.  
_ "Not bad," Mira's voice said in a noticeably less benevolent tone "I was anxious to see the effects of this new poiso. Not deadly, but powerful enough to erase any possibility of resistance."  
Daenerys reached the bed with great difficulty, managing to pull herself up and reached out to touch her daughter, who was still crying. She then saw Mira, showing an evil smile, advancing little by little towards them.  
_ "M ... Mira?! What are you doing?!" she asked, holding her daughter in her arms to protect her.   
_ "A life has been demanded, and it must be paid, it is known." said Mira, whose look was not the same as before. Daenerys noticed it, with horror.  
_ "Who are you?!! Do not approach!" said Daenerys, her daughter snuggled up against her and crying.  
_ "Your friends have given me a hard time, but today the debt to the faceless god will be paid."  
With these words, which made Daenerys shudder, Mira tore the bottom of her dress, revealing a dagger that was hanging on one of her legs. Daenerys saw, with shock, then that Valyrian steel dagger that Mira, or rather that assassin, now held in her hand.   
She had seen this weapon before.  
_ "No ......" Daenerys sighed, horrified.  
_ "Oh yes," said Mira, who then put her hand to her chin and before Daenerys' frightened look, pulled out the skin from her face like someone takes off a garment, revealing her true face in plain sight of the Mother of Dragons. It was her ....... Arya Stark!!  
Holding her daughter in tears against her and wanting to protect her at all costs, Daenerys curled back, still feeling the harmful effects of this poison on her, making her unable to flee. She wanted to scream at the guard, but felt her vocal cords being paralyzed in turn by the poison.  
Arya, after dropping Mira's face to the floor, stepped to the bed confidently and then raised the dagger over her head, ready to lower it to her prey.   
Daenerys closed her eyes, making shield with her own body to protect Rhaellys.  
_ "Valar Morghulis." Arya then said firmly, lowering the blade to Daenerys. Suddenly, the doors of the royal apartments were brutally opened, as if a tornado had passed, surprising Arya whose blade of the dagger was stopped by a fighting wood stick, a few inches from the body of Daenerys, which too, was amazed at the moment.  
Shen-Zoan was there, holding his combat stick and glaring at this murderous young woman he did not know. Immediately, Shen struck a fast kick that made Arya back two meters out of range of her target. Shen then stood in front of the queen and her daughter, taking a defensive stance. Behind him, Daenerys still held his daughter, reassured to see one of her friends.  
_ "GUARDS!! ALERT!!" Shen then alerted, while keeping an eye on the assassin, who seeing him doing it, then began to run away, leaving the royal apartments.  
Two unsullied soldiers arrived then, alerted, but were killed by Arya who cut their throats in a fast and almost supernatural way, before continuing to flee. Shen then went after her.  
_ "This time, I'll get you!!" said the man of Yi Ti, determined not to fail this time. Also alerted by the noise and arriving in another corridor, as they returned from the patrol, Grey Worm and his unsullied arrived in the royal apartments to see the queen, still alive and uninjured, as well as the baby.  
_ "My queen, are you alright?!" Grey Worm asked, which she nodded nervously. Yara Greyjoy then entered the room, completely disconcerted and came to them.  
_"What is happening?!"  
_ "Arya Stark .... it's ... she's the assassin ...." Daenerys managed to articulate. Yara and Grey Worm exchanged the same surprised looks. So the Starks had something to do with the faceless men's request for assassination. Daenerys had a small idea of who could be behind this, but did not think about it at the moment, focusing mostly on her crying daughter, and making sure she was not hurt.  
_ "Shhh .... shhh, my little one .... I'm here ...." Daenerys spoke softly to Rhaellys to reassure her, holding her tightly against her. Immadiatly, Grey Worm gave his orders to the soldiers with him.  
_"Give the alert! Block all the doors! This assassin must not escape!"  
Yara straightened up, worried, and seemed to be looking for something.  
_ "Where is Shen?"  
***********   
Shen had run among the many corridors of the pyramid, finding on his way some guards killed or wounded, or servants scared. He then arrived in the great hall of the throne, silent, at the top of the large steps and his sharp eye, watching attentively around him. The room was rather dark, wearing on its walls the large black banners of the red three-headed Targaryen dragon....   
Suddenly, his reflexes pushed him to look up and allowed him to lift his combat stick just in time to block a new attack from Arya, who from above jumped up and tried to stab him in the face, in a very fast and silent way. Shen pushed the Stark girl back, the latter coming to her feet on the ground with agility, and spinning her dagger between her fingers.  
_ "Who are you?" Shen asked, taking a defensive position again, his eyes sharp on his opponent.  
_ "In the past, a girl's name was Arya Stark, but now she's no one." she replied with a voice devoid of human feeling. Shen shuddered seeing her do so, as well as that unhealthy aura she reflected around her. He saw in her the fast, silent shadow of his nightmares, armed with this dagger and trying to kill him.  
_ "It's you ..." Shen sighed darkly with a bad look "... you've been haunting my nightmares since ever."  
Arya seemed puzzled by what he was saying, but did not care anymore, continuing to juggle his Valyrian steel dagger in his hands.  
_ "You have good reflexes, you know how to fight, but it will be useless against me...." says Arya with great confidence "... I defeated death itself ... can you say the same?"  
_ "That's what you think ...." Shen replied curtly "... the breach of trust can push someone to see beyond reality .... Never death can be defeated. She always wins ... Sooner or later, you will have to face your own death, a death that will be impossible for you to escape!"  
In front of her words, Arya lost her confident smile to become more annoyed and leaps forward, with great speed to deliver a dagger blow. Shen was on his guard, and with a sideways motion, dodged the blade that could have pierced his belly. Taking advantage of the momentum, Shen made a violent side kick, which Arya avoided in turn by a jump back, but felt the foot of Shen almost touching her chin.   
For long seconds, Shen and Arya ruthlessly clashed on the steps of this great royal hall, each using their techniques combining combat and flexibility, in movements some of which appeared almost supernatural, somersaults, side or vertical attacks, parades and feints, each succeeding to block or avoid the attacks of their opponent, while remaining imperturbable. Shen almost made the air dancing around him with his martial arts and combat stick movements, while Arya moved as fast and silent as a shadow. It was like this mysterious masked woman said before.... The wind and shadow were clashing, as the masked woman told.   
However, Arya suddenly revealed a second weapon, hidden behind her back: a rapier! With the end of the point, she managed to slash Shen's right shoulder slightly, making him wince in pain. With the palm of his hand, the man of Yi Ti immediately responded with a blow in the abdomen of Arya, who made her back violently several meters and dropped her to the ground.  
Arya immediately jumped up to her feet, showing an almost smirking smile despite her pain, while Shen vaguely watched the little trickle of blood running down his shoulder, but focused again on the fight.  
_ "I must admit that I have never seen anyone fight like this before. This fight is becoming more and more interesting....hmmm, maybe I'll take your face too." Arya said with an almost carnivorous smile.  
_ "Who are you working for? Who wants the death of our queen?!" Shen demanded firmly, which rather made Arya laugh condescendingly.  
_ "And you, why do you accept to risk your life for a foreign queen?! She's not from your land..." Arya then asked.  
_ "With such a mentality ..." Shen sighed, shaking his head in spite "... it is not surprising that some come to join monsters like the Faceless Men."  
Faced with this undisguised criticism, Arya jumped back to the attack, blocked again by Shen's fighting stick. The two fighters faced each other, eye to eye with fierce, while their weapons were shocking at each other.  
************   
Upon learning that Shen had left alone in pursuit of the assassin, Yara was quick to go looking for him to help him, while Grey Worm and an escort of guards remained with Queen Daenerys and her daughter to protect them. An unsullied soldier was sent to get Ser Cade and his knights to block all the exits of the pyramid.  
Accompanied by two ironborn soldiers, Yara ran through the corridors of the pyramid, beating heart and hand at all times on her sword, ready to unsheathe.  
_ "Have you seen Shen-zoan?" she hurriedly asked two frightened maids she met at the corner of a corridor. One of them affirmed and pointed to a direction.  
_ "He ran to the throne room, in pursuit of a girl armed with a dagger!"  
***********   
The fight was going on with the most tough way. Shen, using his martial art invented by his late master, and Arya, using her techniques learned from the Faceless Men ... both were fighting with all their might through the throne room, their weapons, their arms or their legs are shocking against each other with impressive speed, none of which can penetrate their opponent's defenses.  
If Arya was a little faster, Shen had the experience and his side. Disregarding his slight arm wound, he continued the fight, for his queen, but also to finally chase the shadow that haunted his sleep since all this time. But how could this girl haunt those nightmares even before she was born? Were they more than nightmares, but warnings of the future? After what he has saw in his life, he would not even surprise him. World was definitely most curious than most of the people could imagine.   
The fight moved out of the throne room, Shen and Arya now clashing along a long corridor. An unsullied guard on patrol arrived by one end and seeing what was happening, wanted to intervene to help Shen. Unfortunately, Arya had seen it coming and with flexibility, threw her Valyrian steel dagger that reached the guard in the chest, killing him instantly.  
_"NO!" shouted Shen-zoan, and carried away by anger, struck a very violent blow of stick in the stomach of Arya, making her back a few meters and making her spit a few drops of blood. Arya rubbed her lips, looking at the red that permeated the tips of her fingers and smirked at Shen.  
_ "Well done ... you managed to make me bleed, not many people can boast about it." she said, wielding her rapier dexterously.  
_ "What were you saying already? Oh yes, I'm stupid to defend a queen because she's not like me, or like you ..." Shen retorted, "... what you have here on your fingers proves how wrong you are." he said pointing his injury on his shoulder, and to the bloodstains on Arya's fingers, who raised an eyebrow of perplexity. _ "Her blood is red, her flesh is red ... mine too, just like yours ... no matter where we live, we are all the same color inside ... that's the real thing I can boast about, it's to be one of the few to understand this: we are all the same!"  
Arya had listened, but immediately tried to retrieve her dagger from the guard's corpse, but her hand was hit by the end of Shen's fighting stick, forcing her to step back further and give up her dagger.  
The fight continued until Shen and Arya reached a large stone balcony, continuing to fight without ever being surprised by their opponent. In the sky, Drogon, Joreas and Mirrandes, alerted by the tumult in the pyramid and having felt their mother in danger, flew nervously over the pyramid for long minutes, observing all that happens and seeing the fight that was taking place between Shen and Arya.  
Shen moved with the speed of the wind, managing to avoid a rapier's blow and pass behind Arya and tried to hit her in the neck, but Arya avoided him with a reflex and rolled on the ground to get away from him.  
A little further up, Daenerys, helped by Grey Worm had reached the balcony of her royal apartments, holding her daughter in her arms, and looking down, then saw the fight that was taking place at about fifty meters. below. Daenerys was stunned by Arya's agility and how she managed to stand up to Shen, and vice versa.  
_ "Shen ....." she whispered, very worried, before turning to Grey Worm ".... Grey Worm, send some of your men to help Shen, now!"  
_ "Yes, my queen!" the unsullied commander obeyed without hesitation, and pointed out as quickly as possible the first three strongest men among those present.  
***********   
Yara and her two guards passed through the throne room as the frightened maid had indicated, but saw no presence of Shen or Arya. However, distinct traces on the ground indicated passage here. They continued further, to discover the corpse of the unsullied soldier in the middle of the corridor. Kneeling beside him, Yara pulled the dagger out of his chest, looking at the bloody blade with care. Her heart jumped. Indeed, she recognized this dagger she had already seen once at the belt of Arya. This little bitch is really here, Yara thought, gritting her teeth.  
Sounds of resonant struggle caught the attention of Yara and her guards, who without losing a moment, rushed to discover, several hundred yards away, on a balcony, Shen and Arya fighting fiercely.  
_ "SHEN!!" yelled Yara uneasily, unsheathing her sword and starting to run to the scene of the fight, followed by her guards who had taken their weapons too.  
Although alerted by Yara's voice, Shen finally disarmed Arya, letting her rapier go, and grabbing her from behind, wrapped his arm around her neck and squeezed hard, cutting off her breath. Arya struggled with all her might, but Shen held on, being stronger physically. Feeling her breath cutted, Arya rolled her eyes and gradually lost conscience.  
However, Arya had feigned fainting, and grabbing a dagger hidden in her sleeve, stabbed Shen violently at the ribs, snatching a grimace and a deep groan of pain from him. Twice, three times .... Arya stabbed several times in Shen's ribs with savagery. Despite the flowing blood and the excruciating pain, Shen, although faltering more and more, refused to let go and kept Arya as strong as he could. However, his forces abandoning him more and more, he knew he could no longer hold on but refused to let this assassin escape.   
It was then that he glanced over his shoulder, seeing the stone railing of the balcony just behind his back. While holding Arya against him, he managed to step back a few steps to the edge. Yara almost came to the balcony to see Shen and guessed in horror what he was going to do. Arya, too, seemed to guess what he was doing and struggled more and more fiercely, even showing for a moment, a split second, an expression of great fear.  
_ "SHEN! NO!!" Yara screamed. But it was then that Shen gave one last friendly look at her, as well as a smile.  
_ "A life for a life ....." he murmured with his weakening but still determined voice.  
The vision that then presented to Yara horrified her to the highest point, paralyzing her on the spot. Shen, with a great foot movement, dropped back, passing over the railing of the balcony, dragging Arya with him.  
_ "NOOOOOOO!!" yelled Yara, rushing to the edge, but retained by her guards. From the balcony a little higher, Daenerys and Gray Worm watched with horror as Shen and Arya fell. From the bottom of the pyramid, in front of the big main entrance, Ser Cade and a group of his knights, also saw the two fallen figures of the balcony.  
Falling from a height of almost a hundred meters, Shen and Arya fell into the void. Arya screamed, still struggling and hitting as hard as she could. Shen remained hooked on her, making sure to bring her with him in the other world. Shen did not scream, showed no fear ... he would never have nightmares again and would finally take away the nameless shadow that had been haunting him since childhood .... the fight of the wind and the shadow finally came to an end ..... his true mission was accomplished, and he went away, without the slightest regret of having been able at least once in his life, to serve a person worthy of her status....  
Feeling one last time the wind all around him, on his face and in his hair, Shen closed his eyes peacefully to never open them again, making his last breath just before he and Arya hit the ground.


	22. Bonus page: Shen "windwalker" zoan tribute

This is not a new chapter, but a small bonus page that I wanted to publish. A little imaginary biography about an OC and main character of this story which is unfortunately dead in the previous chapter. Do not worry, the next chapter will come after, but I wanted to publish this little bonus page as a tribute to an OC that I enjoyed creating and writing.

Here is the story of Shen-Zoan the windwalker, and what led him to meet and serve Daenerys Targaryen.

 

Shen-zoan was born in the year 260 after the conquest of Aegon, in the lands of Yi Ti. Unique and unwanted son of a prostitute in a small village. Barely a week old, he will be abandoned by his mother, who will place him in a basket and leave him stranded in the bed of a river.

Shen will then be found and recovered by a strange hermit, Dzian-Owan, who takes pity on the abandoned infant, raises him as his son, and teaches him a new and fighting art: that of fighting without killing in a perfect harmony of combat and of meditation. For years and in all weather conditions, Shen followed this challenging but exciting training, following exactly what her master and father told her. During his training, Shen had many nightmares, including that of a nameless, agile shadow, armed with a shining dagger, who was trying to kill him relentlessly. He was still waking up after he and the shadow fell together, hooked to each other in an infinite void. He spoke to his master about these nightmares, and the latter revealed to him that sometimes dreams could be warnings, even visions of what the future would hold for us, and that he should always pay attention.

Just before Dzian dies of old age, Shen will learn from him that he is not his son and that he found him by a river while he was still a baby. Although surprised by the revelation, Shen will show no anger at Dzian for hiding this from him, and will tell him that he will always consider him as his only father. Having buried his master at the foot of an old willow on a hill, Shen, then 18 years old, will choose to travel the vast world to help the poor, as taught to his master for years. He will succeed, at the cost of heavy efforts and risking several times his life, to cross the mountain range separating the empire of Yi Ti from the West of Essos.

Shen will travel everywhere, from village to village, from city to city, often forced to sleep in the open air and sometimes to fast for several days.

At the age of 22, in the year 282, during a halt in the city of Qarth, he was drugged without his knowledge by pirates in a tavern, and taken prisoner. Shen is taken in the ship against his will, where he stays in a hold for weeks, in constant darkness, barely fed and abused by his captors. Finally, the pirates sell him as a slave to the city of Astapor. There he will be bought by a young master, Kraznys mo Nakloz. For years, he will remain the slave of Kraznys, often beaten and abused. But despite the mistreatment inflicted, Shen's spirit and will never broke, using the teachings of his late master to hold on. It was during this long period of slavery that Shen became acquainted with a young woman slave and translator also serving Kraznys, Missandei, of Naath. Shen will take a liking to the young woman and will always support or console her in these moments of sadness and doubt, encouraging her to hold on and hope for a better life. The months passing, the friendship of Shen for Missandei will turn into a real feeling of love, but never he dared to say it to her.

Shen was always the one who tried to intervene to protect the other slaves from the anger of Kraznys, going so far as to suffer the consequences in their place for daring to stand between them and him. This behavior will be worth to him to be punished many times and even to undergo the worst possible tortures. One day, in the year 300, Shen will surprise Kraznys mad with anger, striking Missandei with violence. Shen will intervene again, even to scramble Kraznys away from the young woman in distress. Furious at this affront, Kraznys had Shen chained in the public square where he was beaten violently by the master's men and left half dead. Following the blows received and having lost a lot of blood, Shen will fall into a coma, and Missandei, destroyed, believe him being dead after a lie of Kraznys to break her.

When he wakes up, a few days later, in a house he does not know, he will discover Astapor, changed, freed from the presence of the masters. Ancient slaves who stayed behind and took care of him during his "sleep", will reveal to him that a young silver haired woman, Daenerys Targaryen, arrived with three dragons and liberated the city from the tyranny of the masters. Shen will ask where Missandei is, and he will learn that she was chosen and released by Daenerys Targaryen to become her maid and personal translator.

Recovering from his wounds, Shen left Astapor as a free man, after spending years in infamous conditions. Resuming his journey, he swore one day to find this woman, Daenerys Targaryen, and thank her one day for having released.

In the year 305, aged 45, after years of traveling through Essos, during a new stop at the city of Qarth, Shen will meet Yara Greyjoy, a young warrior woman, in a tavern and help her against mercenaries who wanted to attack her. Later, Shen will follow Yara to a ship anchored in the harbor, where he will be invited to board a long-awaited meeting: Daenerys Targaryen. After telling his past and the reason for his coming here, Shen will be accepted by Daenerys at her side to serve her and help her in her reconquest of the Slaver's Bay that returned to the hands of the slavers.

And you know what happens next.....

 

Shen "windwalker" Zoan

From the land of Yi Ti 

Year 260 AC - Year 305 AC


	23. Part 22

Essos, Meereen

The dead bodies of Shen-Zoan and Arya Stark were found by Ser Cade and his men, at the foot of one of the great walls of the pyramid, in the middle of a large puddle of blood. The man of Yi Ti and the young wolf of Westeros lay motionless, side by side, their eyes closed. Shen had succumbed to his wounds before hitting the ground and Arya had been killed at the stroke of the impact, having visibly her skull cracked, judging by the drift of blood flowing from her forehead. Ser Cade found that one of Shen's hands still held Arya's sleeve. He had not let her go, until the end he had held.  
Moments later, Yara Greyjoy, accompanied by her two ironborn guards, came running to the scene. Ser Cade wanted to retain her, intervening to prevent her from seeing but she looked at him with a bad eye, then abruptly removed him from her path. Cade did not insist and moved away with his knights.   
Stunned, silent, Yara then went to the corpses, falling to her knees in the blood soaking the floor slabs and weeping, gently lifted Shen's upper body to hold him against her. She was looking at him, running his hand through his black hair, as if hoping he was going to open his eyes, but she knew it was impossible .... he was gone ....  
Holding Shen against her, kneeling and broken, Yara was shaking, her red cheeks dripping with tears, and screaming with a mixture of anger and sadness to the sky, tearing her vocal cords. A scream at the height of her despair, almost as powerful as the roar of thunder during a storm.  
The pain turned into hatred when Yara looked at Arya's corpse next door. Clenching her teeth and leaving a trickle of saliva running from her mouth, her eyes bloodshot, Yara jumped up and kicked Arya's belly, though she would not feel nothing anymore now. Seeing her angry and starting to hit the corpse, Ser Cade and another knight immediately rushed to her, holding her by the arms and forcing her back, seeing that she was losing control of herself.  
_ "Let me!! Let me go, fuck! ..." yelled Yara, struggling as she was brought back, knights and unsullied soldiers arriving on the spot taking care of both corpses.  
_"Queen Yara, calm down!" Cade asked, holding her strongly. Yara freed herself from his grip and unrestrainedly punched him hard in the cheek, which made Cade stagger a little, who spat a little of blood and checked that he had no broken teeth.  
_ "Ser Cade, are you all right?" asked the knight at his side.  
_ "Yes, yes ..." replied Cade "... it's nothing."  
He was angry of course, but could not blame Yara for doing so, understanding her in a way. He too, on hearing about the death of Harry Strickland, a person dear to his heart, had gone into a dark anger and had wanted to hit everyone.  
Supported by Grey Worm and escorted by a group of unsullied soldiers, Daenerys had managed to walk to the main gates of the pyramid, holding her crying daughter in her arms. Immediately, Queen Targaryen noted with horror the facts. The corpses of Shen and Arya, being taken care of by the guards, and Yara Greyjoy standing a little apart and continuing to cry and scream, after hitting Ser Cade in the face.  
From the sky, Drogon, Joreas and Mirrandes arrived, coming to rest gently on the ground and in neutral grunts, seeing what had just happened. Daenerys saw Drogon approaching his huge muzzle and making small sad growls. He could feel the pain his mother was experiencing, she knew it too. Another proof that dragons could sometimes be much more human than some. Daenerys gently caressed his muzzle to calm him down a bit.  
_ "Grey Worm, hold my daughter for a moment please ...."  
_ "Of course, my queen." answered the commander unsullied, taking with great care the baby that Daenerys gave him. The dragon queen then went to Yara, who with her anger, did not let anybody approach her.  
Daenerys arrived, seeing the ironborn queen kneeling on the ground, hitting the ground with her fists and bleeding her hands. She felt terribly sorry for her, not knowing how to find the words to comfort her ally and friend.  
Yara felt a hand gently resting on her shoulder, and, raising her eyes in tears, saw Queen Daenerys, kneeling beside her and looking at her in silence, with a very sorry look.   
_ "I couldn't save him ....." Yara choked in her tears and hatred of Arya, but also to herself ".... I could have, but I didn't been fast enough! He died by my fault, as I let my brother die!!"  
Daenerys then hugged Yara against her, supporting her forcefully in this terrible ordeal, and then watching two unsullied soldiers lift Shen's body and start taking him away.  
_ "We will offer him a dignified burial, as well as an honorific title that lives up to the bravery he has shown ..." Daenerys said, her throat tied, but doing everything to stay strong and determined. She took Yara's face in her hands and looked straight into her eyes. "... he fought and gave his life for us .... we have to keep moving forward and fight, so his death will not have been in vain .... I swear, with fire and blood, that his courage will be a strength that I will use to advance and honor his memory, as well as all those who have given their lives."  
Yara had listened and although thanking Queen Targaryen for her words, could not restrain her sadness from expressing itself. Daenerys stood there, supporting her, under the resounding laments of the three dragons in the Meereen sun.   
While leaving Yara crying against her, Daenerys then showed a look of the most determined, or even darkened ... the Starks .... they were responsible for these attempts to assassinate him .... the sacrifice of Kinvara to save Joreas .... the death of Shen ..... and her daughter, Rhaellys could have been another victim .... the spark of a feeling awoke then in the heart of Daenerys .. ..a feeling she had both tried to choke, but she also wanted to feel ..... a feeling of revenge ....  
************ 

The news of the assassination attempt on the queen and her daughter had already been around the city of Meereen, triggering waves of discussion and concern among the populace. Some even believed in the return of the sect of the Sons of the Harpy. Patrols, especially around and in the pyramid, were reinforced in the city, to prevent any eventuality and to prevent other assassins from being hidden in the walls. After long search, the lifeless body of the young maid Mira was finally found by Grey Worm and his patrol. She had her throat cut to the bone. Her face was stripped of her skin and her body was then hidden in a large terracotta jar in the reserve. According to estimates, she had been killed a few days ago, meaning that in the last days it was Arya Stark who was with the queen, waiting for the right moment to strike.  
In this dreary early evening, when the sky was tinged with a blood-red cloth and the sun setting sadly on the horizon, a funeral ceremony took place in the great throne room of Meereen. Queen Daenerys had donned a large black dress, the color of mourning, and stood on top of the white steps, holding her daughter in her arms. By her side were standing, her remaining faithful allies and friends, Grey Worm, Ser Cade and Yara Greyjoy, the latter had to take on her to remain calm and clenched her teeth behind her lips. In her hands, she was holding Shen's conical hat, having wished to keep it as a souvenir of one of the bravest and honest men she has known. A man too good for this world too cruel.  
A funerary altar was erected in the center of the room at the foot of the steps. On a wooden bed were the corpses of Shen-Zoan and Mira, one next to the other. Shen was now resting, his hands on his chest, his eyes closed forever and looking calm, as if he was sleeping, his fighting stick resting at his side. Mira, with her disfigured face, had been wrapped in strips of fine, white linen. Throughout the hall stood rows of unsullied soldiers and the Knights of Cade, all in ranks and straight. Red priests and priestesses were also present, in line and silent. Outside, the laments of Drogon and the other two dragons could be heard resonating in the air, like signs of farewell to the victims.  
Queen Daenerys, then entrusting her daughter to Grey Worm again, walked down the stairs in silence, remaining upright and dignified, but showing still visible traces of dried tears on her cheeks. With her throat tied, she looked at the two dead, her two dead friends, two new losses for her, before taking the floor.  
_ "Mira was 14. She was the daughter of farmers, both killed by Khal Onro and his dothrakis. She was a devoted and loving maid, she never disappointed me and did not hesitate to tell me what she was thinking. She died, coldly murdered, alone ..... I was not able to protect her, and that, I could never forgive myself .... "  
She spoke, overwhelmed by sadness, but remained strong, then looked over her shoulder at Yara before talking about Shen.  
_ "Shen-Zoan came from the mysterious land of Yi Ti. Nicknamed the windwalker, and he deserved that name, traveling everywhere, dedicating his life to protecting the poor and bringing some light to this world. But Shen was not only an exceptional fighter, he was above all one of the most human beings we've ever seen. He could see beyond appearances, where the others saw only the surface. His words were filled with a deep wisdom, and he shared it with us with great pleasure, pushing us to see beyond ourselves, who we are .... he gave his life without hesitation, for me and my daughter, saving so the future of the Targaryen dynasty ... I have an eternal debt to him, and I will strive to pay it, making sure that his sacrifice has not been in vain. Each time the east winds will blow, we will then remember that name .... Shen-Zoan, the windwalker .... "  
After talking for the two dead, Daenerys moved slightly to the side, staring into Yara's eyes, beckoning her to say good-bye to Shen, knowing the friendship they both shared. Yara went down the steps, holding Shen's hat in her hand, and squeezing her throat and holding back her tears, stepped forward in front of the body, staring at him for long seconds. Yara gently placed her hand on Shen's chest, feeling his icy hand near hers, and leaning forward, kissing the deceased's forehead.  
_ "Farewell, my honorable friend ... and thank you ....." Yara said in a last farewell phrase, before pulling back a few steps.  
Daenerys then took the torch handed to him by one of the guards, and slowly making a tour of the funerary altar, set fire to the corners of the pyre, before returning to her place. All in the greatest silence, contemplated the flames, at first timid, growing larger, gradually covering and devouring the wooden bed, as well as the bodies of Shen and Mira, who were first surrounded by fire, were gradually engulfed and disappeared into the infernal veil, from which rose a black smoke escaping through the open windows of the throne room and evaporating into the scarlet sky. Yara remained strong despite everything, having to stay until the end, for her deceased friend, swearing on her status of ironborn queen and on the drowned god himself, that she would continue the fight to honor her memory, as she did for her brother Theon. She and Daenerys, standing side by side, then looked at each other briefly, without saying a word, but looking at each other mutually.  
No cold and dark graves for Shen-Zoan and Mira. No long, slow, eternal sleep in a dismal crypt for them. Their ashes would be salvaged and scattered in the winds of the waters of the bay, so that they would be free forever.  
As for Ser Jorah, Missandei, Kinvara, Viserion and Rhaegal, Queen Daenerys would ensure that the names of Shen and Mira are not forgotten. Looking at the flames of the stake while remaining dignified, the young dragon queen yet felt, without showing it, an unprecedented anger but still very tenuous tighten her heart .... she was tired of losing those who mattered for her and who devoted their lives to her without her being able to protect them as she should ... a disturbing question then crossed her mind: did her life deserve so many sacrifices?  
But as she thought about the question that haunted her mind, Daenerys's attention was suddenly drawn when she looked up at her. On the other side of the funeral pyre, she could see through the curtain of flames .... among the priests and priestesses of R'hllor, stood this woman who stood out from the others by her outfit, especially her mask made with bronze scales that completely covered her face ... her eyes looked at Daenerys, without blinking once .... Daenerys swallowed softly, feeling a strange thrill running through her body .... she had already seen this woman before, briefly, but surely ..... and she remembered where .... on her first arrival at Qarth, some years ago...  
*********** 

Essos, Yi Ti, Imperial city of Yin

Yin. City capital of the empire of the Further East and current seat of the imperial dynasty, represented by the god emperor Bu Gai, seventeenth sovereign of the line of the Azure emperors.  
The emperor, dressed in his large dress with wide sleeves of golden silk, crisscrossed with purple and black motifs representing longiline and serpentine forms running along the fabric. A linen belt around his waist closed the garment and held it. Around his neck hung a large necklace of green jade pearls, symbol, as well as the gold of his clothes, his omnipotence and his status as emperor.  
Bu Gai had a young, thin face, serious black eyes, and thin lips. Although more than thirty years old, he gave the impression of having twenty. His perfectly smooth ebony black hair had been combed into a bun, and held by a large golden stem arranged horizontally through his hair. He also wore a gold band encrusted with jade beads around his head.  
Sitting cross-legged in his great throne room, on his throne made of gold and gemstones carved and polished, the emperor was surrounded by dozens of maidservants and servants, all dressed in large blue silk dresses less good quality, and took care of the emperor, responding to the least of his desires. Serving him was a real honor and disappointing him was inconceivable for them.   
On this hot day two servants held two large fans, and by slow and slow movements, refreshed the Emperor by giving him air.  
Bu Gai seemed preoccupied, finishing reading a message he had just received. Frustrated, he pressed it into his hand and let it fall, leaving one of the servants to pick it up.   
_ "That cursed sorcerer-lord..." Bu Gai commented in an irritated voice "... he still launches raids in the land .... he taunts me .... as if this epidemic of gray plague was not enough. I swear on my dynasty, I will destroy this wretched impostor who proclaimed himself emperor of Yi Ti, spitting on my name and that of my ancestors!"  
The servants recoiled, intimidated by the angry voice of the emperor, who regained his calm and sighed heavily.   
Rubbing his tired eyes with the tips of his fingers, the emperor then heard the large gilded doors of the hall open, and saw then the general of his armies arriving with a right step, then stopping in the middle of the room on the big purple carpet that ran along the room, bowed with the greatest respect.  
_ "What do you want, Zung Li?" the emperor asked in a slightly annoyed tone, raising an eyebrow. "I had asked to not be disturbed."  
_ "Forgive me your almighty highness, but a man wants to see you, he says it's very important. He gave me this for you."  
The general then held out a small brown paper folded in his hand. Bu Gai seemed puzzled. He was not expecting any visitor today. With a simple gesture of his hand, Bu Gai ordered his servants to leave him, which they did immediately, after bowing down before him and departing at a hurried pace. Bu Gai held out his hand, asking the general without a word to bring it to him, which he did.  
Without losing a moment, the emperor unfolded the paper and seeing its content, opened wide eyes surprised. A red dragon with an undulating body was painted there, as well as a very special symbol but it seemed to recognize.  
_ "Get him in immediately." Bu Gai ordered, to which the general bowed again and went immediately to the gates.  
A few moments later, the general and two of his men came back, escorting the man in question. He had the appearance of an innocent, bald old man, walking with a cane and wearing a large scarlet toga covering his entire body. He walked barefoot and pointed to his face, eyes veiled, blind, and a face fully tattooed, bearing the same dragon represented on the paper.  
The old man advanced to the feet of the great golden steps of the throne and bowed to the emperor. Bu Gai, too, bowed, usually never doing it, except in front of the bearers of this message for which he had immense respect.  
_ "Your Highness ..." greeted the old man.  
_ "What is worth to me the visit of a member of the venerable and ancient order of the mystics?" the emperor asked. The old monk then straightened himself, leaning on his cane, and spoke, under the attentive gaze of the emperor.  
_ "You have, I suppose, heard the call of the mystics, your highness?" asked the monk. The emperor swallowed slightly. Indeed, late in the night yesterday, he had been awakened by the distant and serious echoes, carried by the winds coming from the mountains, and announcing the awakening of the mystics.  
_ "Yes, I heard it." the emperor calmly confirmed.  
_ "And you know what it means, your highness....the times are changing, your highness ... we have felt it, in the mountains as well as in our flesh and our bones ..... the cold winds are rising, the nights become longer each passing day, and the shadow of death is gradually spreading, threatening to cover this world with its veil and to destroy all life ..... "  
The Emperor listened attentively, and then felt a shudder of fear running through him, though he did not show it.  
_ "It's impossible ...." says Bu Gai "... the long night was defeated a very long time ago ...."  
_ "Not defeated ...." corrected the blind monk "... only delayed ..... far in the west, beyond the seas, it has already spread, taking with it thousands of lives ..... the messenger of death, the raven with three blue eyes, is extending his power .... "  
Like all Yi Ti, Bu Gai knew the story of the Long Night that was once invoked by the Lion of Night to punish men. Although never having seen it with his eyes, the emperor had always learned to see the real, but also not to remain completely blind to what did not seem to be.  
_ "However ..." the old monk added, "the darkness also brings light with them....a hope... the one who was promised has returned ...."  
_ "The one who was promised?!" Bu Gai commented, opening wide, astonished eyes.  
_ "Yes ....." said the monk "... born in the storm, exiled, betrayed, murdered, she was reborn in fire and ashes, ready to bring down her judgment on the guilty ..... the Three-headed dragon is back, ready to spread its wings again and free our world from darkness....the flames can burn but never lie.....come and see, your highness...."  
Intrigued, Bu Gai saw the mystic monk invited to come to one of the great braziers extinguished in the throne room, usually used to heat the throne room on winter evenings. The Emperor went down the stairs and stepped forward. At his side, the monk took a handful of a silver powder in a small canvas bag hanging from his belt and threw it on the dry logs in the brazier. Immediately, red flames came alive, under the amazed eyes of the emperor, who once again saw the magic of the mystics at work. He remembered seeing them, being a child, alongside his father, and was very impressed by their magic.  
_ "Look, your highness .... look what the flames want to show you ...." the monk humbly asked. The Emperor chose to listen to him and stepping forward one more step, feeling the heat of the flames on his face, then contemplated the dancing fire before his eyes with the greatest attention.  
Seeing nothing at first in the first minutes, he was about to give up when suddenly, what appeared to him to be an image appeared to him in the middle of the small curtain of flames .... It seemed to him to distinguish .... yes, embers taking the form of a dragon with three heads .... a blazon he had already seen before, illustrated in old dusty books of the imperial archives .....  
And it is there, that he saw her .... dressed in a large and light dress of white silk, a very beautiful young woman, with long silvery hair, and appearing, for a moment, look over her shoulder, as if she had felt a presence and seemed to look directly at the Emperor, which was of course impossible ....  
_ "I see ... this woman ...." Bu Gai said without looking away from the flames. Behind him, the monk smiles, nodding slowly. "...but....who is she?"  
_ "The last hope for this world...." confirmed calmly the monk "...this young lady is not yet aware of it, but a great destiny beyond all imagination awaits her, and she must be prepared for it ..... you know what you have to do, your highness....."  
The emperor then turned to the monk, and saw in the veil of his blind eyes .... yes, he knew what he had to do.


	24. Part 23

Winterfell, Westeros

Death ....... darkness, cold and death ..... that's all that remained of the great and majestic city of Winterfell after the passage of the new army of the dead. Formerly the great powerful capital of the independent kingdom of the north, it was only reduced to the state of silent and giant ruin in the middle of the sleeping winter heaths. The tall gray-stone towers rising high, or fluttering the proud banners of the Stark family rocked by the icy wind, no longer resembled anything but macabre points turned to the sky. An atmosphere of death now permeated the place, like a silence so palpable that it could be cut with a knife.  
Tyrion, Brienne, Samwell and Meera Reed felt this, all dressed warmly, passing with fear the big broken gates of Winterfell, thus entering the deserted and silent main courtyard. The little group had managed to find refuge in an isolated cave in the middle of the moors, and thanks to the gods, had managed to escape the attention of the army of the dead.  
Tyrion swallowed in horror. He remembered coming to Winterfell for the first time, this city bursting with life, and now silenced. Brienne and Samwell, too, showed disconcerted expressions, even frightened, of what had happened here. Meera was on the lookout with her bow in her hand and looked around, listening for any sound that might be heard.  
Around the small group of survivors was a true apocalyptic landscape. The great stone buildings of WInterfell, silent, workbenches and wagons spilled on the ground, hundreds of weapons, swords, shields, axes, spears, abandoned on the ground, some stained with blood .... and most importantly, an immense quantity of traces of dried blood everywhere which had impregnated the snow, forming almost large, scarlet, morbid carpets. But corpses ..... not one was found.  
As he walked, Samwell felt something under his feet and looked down. It was a small hand-made rag doll, half-buried in the snow and stained with blood. Samwell took the toy in his hand, and shuddered with horror and anguish at the idea of the fatal fate that the child who possessed this toy might have endured. The sight of this toy also made him think of his wife, Gilly, and little Sam, both of whom had stayed at Horn Hill in Reach with Tarly's mother and sister. Sam's heart and throat tightened. What could be the situation there? Had the dead also reached the Reach? Just to imagine the vision of Horn Hill's beleaguered by legions of blue-eyed undead plunged Sam into utter fright.  
_ "Oh gods ... have mercy, please ..." Sam sighed in desperation, letting the toy fall to his feet. Seeing him thus, Brienne came to support him and put her hand on his shoulder.  
_ "Come on, Maester Tarly, this is not the time to let down."  
Brienne spoke with a certain force, but deep inside herself, could not help but think at worst too. Where was Sansa Stark? This question kept haunting her. She would have liked to call to try to get some answer, but nobody dared to do it. Who knows what could still hide in these ruins?  
_ "With all due respect, Tarly ...." commented Tyrion morosely "... I believe that given the situation, even the gods are completely overwhelmed."  
Suddenly, Meera stopped in her walk, and immediately signaled to the others to stay where they are, and especially, grouped. Without losing a moment, Brienne put her hand to her sword, ready to draw it. Tyrion and Samwell, although not fighters, picked up abandoned swords on the ground, and stood ready, with a certain readable anguish on their faces.  
_"What is going on?" asked Tyrion.  
Meera did not answer right away, her second hand grabbing an arrow in her back. But she had clearly heard a close sound ....  
_ "It seems that something has just moved ....." she replied in a low but nervous voice, which was not to reassure others. All looked and listened attentively, hearing nothing but the breath of the bitter wind and seeing nothing more than the ruins of the city.  
Suddenly, a jagged arm came out of the snow, surprising the whole group, and grabbed Samwell's ankle, which more than surprised, uttered a little cry of terror before falling back, to see the body of a soldier Stark, blue-eyed, emerging from the snow and uttering a bestial grunt.  
Immediately, Brienne intervened and pierced the wight's head in the jaw, destroying him instantly and helping Sam get back on his feet.  
Unfortunately, other wights, a dozen, a few Stark soldiers but also ordinary inhabitants, also sprang up from several sides, alerted by the noise, and running like degenerates towards their new preys. Two of them dropped from the top of one of the ramparts and crashed violently on the ground, to get up again immediately, not affected by the fall.  
_ "RUN!!" Brienne shouted as she grabbed Tyrion and lifted him with one hand to carry him away, without he has time to react. Meera shot a first arrow, reaching a wight between the two eyes, before starting to flee, just like Sam.  
The small group of survivors ran to reach the gates of Winterfell and flee the city, pursued by a group of rabid living dead. A few other living corpses, awakened by the noise, rose up, emerging from the piles of snow or leaving buildings and also began to pursue the group of living.  
While running, Meera managed to grab her arrows and shot several behind her, touching the creatures in the legs to destabilize them, or in the head to kill them at once. Unfortunately, there were far too many for her.  
A wight armed with an ax appeared before the group, but Brienne destroyed him with a violent blow of the sword which cut the dead man in two parts.  
But as they ran, the dead began to catch up more and more, Sam can almost feel the warm and foul breath of one of them on his neck.  
The dead man was about to seize him, but an inflamed arrow suddenly hit the monster at the temple, killing him.  
A swarm of other fiery arrows arrived soon after, bombarding the group of undead and killing many of them. Tyrion's group saw this with astonishment, and were even more bewildered at the sight of men, Wildlings, popping up and hitting the dead with dragonglass weapons. Among them was even a giant, a female giant, armed with a huge mass, crushed several undead in one fell swoop.  
Among the wildlings, the group, especially Brienne, recognized the man with the red beard ..... Tormund! He was there, throwing a wight on the ground and finishing it by cutting off his head with his ax. Ghost, Jon's white direwolf, too, his red eyes glittering with black rage and grunting ferociously, jumped with great agility, striking a wight full force and starting to dismember it piece by piece. At his side came a young man, dressed like a wildling, but whose eyes and black curly hair were recognizable among a thousand, just like his sword held in his hand, and carried a pommel shaped like a white wolf's head. roaring. Tyrion and Samwell especially opened wide eyes surprised.  
_ "Jon!" Samwell sighed in astonishment. Jon turned to his friend and former brother of Night's Watch after finishing killing a wight. Once all the creatures were destroyed, the two groups now faced each other, in the heaviest silence. Jon showed on his face, both his anger at the wights, but also the despair at the sight of the city where he grew up, reduced to the state of silent and bloody ruin. And above all, the doubt was reading on his face: how was it possible that wights still exist? 

*************   
Essos, Meereen

Yara felt the icy cold of the water again penetrating her clothes and armor and impregnating her skin, freezing her limbs and blood. She was lost, disarmed, in the midst of these terrifying abysses, unable to perceive the glow of the sun's rays piercing through the surface. The only thing she could see were the water bubbles formed by her own mouth. Looking around, above and below her, she saw nothing but the underwater darkness.  
The young ironborn queen struggled through the dark, unhealthy waters, trying to swim to the surface, but feeling the horrible sensation of not moving forward.  
Suddenly, as she tried to swim to the surface, a firm hand suddenly grabbed her from below, in her leg. More than surprised, Yara lowered her eyes and an expression of great fear appeared on her face. Shen! It was him! Yi Ti's man was staring at her, his bottomless black eyes, his face marred by salt and covered with rotten algae and small crustaceans teeming on his face, entering by his noistrils, ears and mouth.   
Yara, overwhelmed with stress and fear by this horror vision, struggled even more, trying to kick Shen's face, or that thing that looked like her, but it did not make any sense to her. She then felt another presence above her. Raising her eyes sharply, Yara could only grow a scream of fear stifled by the water. Theon was there, floating right in front of her, also looking into her eyes. His ironborn armor was half-destroyed, a bloody wound tinting his body in the chest, as if he had been punctured. His face was dirty, almost decomposed, and his eyes too had no pupils.  
Before Yara could act, she saw Theon's hands seize her by the sides of her face, blocking her and pulling her face closer to his. Yara was paralyzed by fear, unable to move or resist. Theon then opened his mouth wide, and a multitude of small viscous tentacles began to emerge from the inside of his mouth, shaking in all directions and cracking the joints of the jaw. Yara screamed again in nameless fright as the ends of the tentacles brushed against her face.  
Her gaze was immediately drawn to her left, while from the darkness of the abyss rose gigantic tentacles of kraken, undulating in the water and coming closer to seize her. Yara could even see in the middle of these tentacles, two big round and white eyes staring at her, as well as a deep and bestial grunt.  
_ "WHAT IS DEAD MAY NEVER DIE!" then shouted a deeply inhuman and throaty voice coming from the dark depths and shaking Yara's eardrums, as well as her whole body.  
With a jump, Yara opened her eyes and sat up, gasping, her face sweaty and her lips trembling. Looking frantically all around her, she realized that she was where she had fallen asleep, in her cabin, on her bench. Her clothes were perfectly dry, though she still felt that chilling thrill.  
Yara sits down, running her face in her hands, blowing heavily with fatigue, and grimacing because of the migraine that is beating her head. At her feet lay the two empty bottles of alcohol she had consumed before falling asleep with drunkenness. After Shen's death and the funeral ceremony, Yara returned to her ship and decided to drown her sorrows alone.  
One week..... it had been one week since he had died and she spent her evenings alone in the cabin of her ship, at Meereen's harbor, drinking and ruminating her anger. She even broke the nose to one of her sailors who had the bad idea of making a joke about Shen's slanted eyes. She looked at her small desk, where Shen's conical hat was put, the only memory she would ever have of him, as well as the portrait of her that he had made in black ink. Yara sighed. She would have liked to bring Shen to Westeros to show him the Iron Islands, he who loved traveling and discovering the vast world and had never been able to go to the West, and could never do it now.  
The nightmare she had just had haunted her again. Again this damn nightmare, seven nights in a row. The decomposed and monstrous faces of Shen and Theon, looking at her in the middle of these cold black waters ..... She shuddered just to think about it, having almost the impression that they would appear again at any moment in the cabin to terrify it. Although a strong and reinforced warrior, she had to admit to being scared.   
And that inhuman voice coming from the abyss ... it almost sounded like a call, or a warning, she did not know it. Walking nonchalantly towards the porthole behind her desk, she watched vaguely to see the graying morning that had just risen outside, as well as the calm, still-sleeping ocean stretching as far as the eye could see. Yara frowned, puzzled. The ocean seemed to him different now, at least from her point of view.

************   
Since the resumption of the city of Meereen and the beginning of the recapture of Slaver's Bay, several small slave cities, before the power of Queen Daenerys's dragons, had chosen the surrender rather than fighting. However, Daenerys had decided not to be conciliatory towards them, considering that as slavers they did not deserve any special treatment. Her conditions were very simple: the liberation without exception of all the slaves of their cities, no more tortures or killings, otherwise she would execute all the masters by fire.  
Unfortunately, larger cities like Yunkai, for example, were not intimidated by the young silver queen and openly defied her.  
By that gray morning, sitting in her throne room of the pyramid, Daenerys was showing a serious face, devoid of a smile. A Yunkai envoy was standing at the foot of the steps and exposing the conditions of the other masters of the city. Daenerys had listened to her, although her decision was already in her eyes.  
_ "Do you expect me to accept such conditions?" she said coldly, somewhat angry, clenching her hands slightly. Undaunted, Yunkai's man openly allowed himself to show a half smile on his lips.  
_ "These are our conditions, my queen ...."  
_ "Here are mine instead ..." Daenerys added, cutting off his speech without restraint "... give freedom to all your slaves and allow them to start a new life. Stop all human trafficking and torture of children. Without which, I would make sure that you and all the masters are punished as a consequence of your crimes. These are my conditions and it is non-negotiable."  
She had spoken firmly, staying straight in her seat, with Grey Worm and Ser Cade standing by her side. Although he heard the words of the dragon queen, Yunkai's man dared to make a little sneer.  
_ "Our crimes? ...." he said with an almost amused voice "... ironic coming from a woman who did not hesitate to use the power of her dragon to destroy a royal capital and to kill thousands of innocent people in the flames."  
Daenerys opened wide round eyes, almost freezing in her seat, just as Grey Worm reacted sullenly. Daenerys was paralyzed by the mention of the destruction of King's Landing that she had unfortunately caused with Drogon. Thus, the news spread to Essos.   
Seeing the queen's reaction to what he had just said, the emissary Yunkai smiled again.  
_ "Do you want me to cut his tongue, my queen?" asked Grey Worm, whose hand was itching to take his dagger and erase that man's pretentious smile. Daenerys, however, though disconcerted, motioned him to stay where he is, which he did.  
_ "Go back crawling into your city like the worm you are..." said Daenerys, dryly, to the emissary "... expose my conditions to your masters and tell them that you have three days to decide, otherwise, with fire and blood, I will kill you until to the last one ..... and one more thing ... dare to talk to me again as you just did, and I'll have you dismembered very slowly by my dragons..... now, get out of my sight!"  
Facing the dragon queen's threats, the man had lost his assured but scowling smile, leaving the room, under the supervision of unsullied guards. Daenerys rose from her seat, looking disturbed.  
_ "My queen, are you all right?" asked Cade, concerned.  
_ "I .... I need some rest, I'm not feeling well. We'll continue later." she answered simply, to which Grey Worm and Ser Cade obeyed.  
The young queen Targaryen joined her royal apartments, closing the doors behind her after ordering the two guards to stay outside. Leaning against the door, the terrible memory of the destruction of King's Landing had returned to her memory. The terrible mistake that soon led to her death. Putting the palm of her hand on the scar of her wound, she felt for a moment that pain, like a memory returning to haunt her for a few seconds. In a way, this emissary was right. She had committed a crime by doing so, causing the death of many innocent people, all for a quest for a stupid throne. Thinking back, she could not believe she could do such a thing, and her throat was filled with real remorse.  
Ordering the two maids in the apartments to take care of Rhaellys to leave her alone, Daenerys remained alone with her daughter, trying to drive away those macabre thoughts from her mind and wanted to spend a few moments with her child. Although lying in her cradle, Rhaellys slept soundly.  
Daenerys, sitting on her big bed, contemplated in silence and with a more peaceful air, her daughter, that little being so fragile, the blood of her blood, the most precious thing she had now in this world and who gave her the strength and desire to become a better person. With the tips of her fingers and very delicately, Daenerys came to flick Rhaellys's cheek, without waking her. Around the neck of the sleeping little girl was the pendant adorned with the pretty jade stone. Daenerys smiled sadly at the sight of this gift offered by Shen on the eve of his death. Another friend lost forever. Dany could not count them anymore, and did not want it anymore. All these friendly faces, engraved in her memory like if it has been marked with a burning iron. Not a day passed without her seeing them all in her mind, one by one, and all that they had done for her.  
_ "Don't let your remorse obscure your thoughts, Mother of Dragons .... Shen-Zoan did what he had to do." suddenly said a feminine, calm and mysterious voice somewhere in the room. Panting, Daenerys went back to her feet, to see this same woman with a masked face and dressed in a wide scarlet-brown cloth, appeared from a corner of the room. How could she enter here without being seen? Daenerys remembered the woman she had seen at Qarth for the first time, and the second time ar the funeral pyre of Hen and Mira a week ago.  
Immediately, Daenerys rushed to her table to take her sword in her scabbard and unsheathed it, grabbing it with both hands and threatening the intruder, though still having much to learn from handling a weapon.  
_ "Do not approach!" Daenerys menaced shamelessly putting herself in front of the cradle of her daughter to protect her. The masked woman was not threatened at all, but also expressed no aggression, showing empty hands, unarmed.  
_ "I didn't come to threaten you, young silver queen ...." calmly explained the masked woman "... on the contrary, if Shen had not listened to me, you and your daughter would be dead now."  
Daenerys raised her eyebrows, perplexed.  
_ "But .... how ..... did you know about Mira and Arya Stark? Why not warn me before?!!" said Daenerys, divided between mistrust and anger. Her voice awoke, however, awakened the little Rhaellys who then began to cry, attracting the attention of her mother who leaned to take her in her arms and comfort her. The masked woman looked and explained.  
_ "The lord of light shows us many things ... past, present or future, it is up to us to understand them, as to find the pieces of an infinite puzzle ...."  
_ "But you could have intervened, so Shen would still be alive!" Daenerys added, holding her daughter in her arms.  
_ "The fate of the Windwalker was already traced, and nothing could have saved him. I think he knew it himself, and that's why he came to your service."  
_"What?" Daenerys replied, more than perplexed "... you say that Shen would decide to follow me because he had to die?"  
_ "To protect you, mother of dragons ... to save you and to dispel forever the nameless shadow of the wolf who haunted him from his childhood, to allow the future of the Targaryen dynasty to continue and to bring back one day the purifying light of fire on this world to drive out the darkness ... " the masked woman explained, posing in this last sentence, the eye on the young princess Rhaellys.  
Daenerys listened to this prophetic-looking explanation, almost rejoining the one designing her as the chosen one of R'hllor, the one who should one day brandish the sword of fire and defeat the darkness. So, would Shen really be born and all his life would have been traced by the red god to lead him one day to defeat the demon of his nightmares and save the life of the one who will save this world? Daenerys had a hard time conceiving of such a thing, but after all that she had lived since her resurrection, she had to admit that it could be possible.  
_ "What do you want from me, or rather, what does your god want from me?" asked the young Queen Targaryen, sighing, but keeping a certain distance from the masked woman, who did not show any offense at all.  
_ "The west winds become icy ... the nights get longer and the sky is covered with a dark cloth .... the raven with three blue eyes advances with the dead, bringing the eternal night with him, and only the one who was promised can stop it...."  
Again this mention of the raven with three blue eyes as well as the long night, and the one that was promised ... yet the Night King and the army of the dead had been annihilated, Daenerys had been witness to it. How could the dead come back? She who believed to be the one who was chosen and brought back to life by the red god in order to build a better world for men .... would that mean that ....  
_ "No ...." sighed the young queen, looking at her child "... it's impossible .... death has been defeated .... the white walkers are no longer .... "  
_ "Those you call white walkers are just one of the many faces that death can embody, and today, it has a new face and is about to destroy the balance of this world. Only you can stop it, you who have come to life in the fire."  
_ "I never asked that!" Daenerys was carried away in doubt and anger "... All I wanted was to secure the future of my family and my people ... and my daughter..."  
_ "And you can, my queen, by accepting your destiny. All this journey, all those who sacrificed their lives for you, all this has been done to prepare you for your final battle, the battle that will save us all. You embody life, Daenerys stormborn, and your return to the flames as well as your stone-born dragons are proof of that."  
_ "I never wanted them to sacrifice their lives for me!" Daenerys says fervently, her throat tied. The masked woman did not try to deny it.  
_ "But it was so decided by our Lord. Only him knows how it was, is, and will be. We are all his servants, but you are more than that ... you are his chosen one."  
_ "If your lord is such cruel and manipulative, so he is evil! .... then I refuse to serve him! I refuse to sacrify more lives just to serve his purpose!" Daenerys angrily affirmed the edges of her wet eyes. In spite of this contempt expressed towards R'hllor, the masked woman did not show herself at all offended.  
Daenerys turned away from her and gently cradled her daughter who gradually began to calm down and stopped crying.   
_ "Now, I command you to ...." Daenerys turned around to order the woman to leave, but was surprised to see that the woman had disappeared without leaving a trace. Looking everywhere in the royal apartment, the young queen realized that she was alone with her daughter. However, her attention was drawn to the little brazier, where a nagging flame had formed. Strange, she did not remember having start a fire. As she looked at it, Daenerys felt an unpleasant shiver through her body ... as if ... she had felt a heavy, supernatural gaze staring at her from that flame.


	25. Part 24

Winterfell, Westeros

_ "Lord Snow ...."  
_ "Lord Tyrion ...."  
Jon and Tyrion were now facing in the middle of Winterfell's devastated, silent courtyard. A tension more than palpable was felt in the air, the two groups could see it. Jon did not really forgive the dwarf Lannister for using him to kill Daenerys, and that, Tyrion guessed at nothing but the dark look of him. Jon also stared at his friend Samwell, who was split between the joy of seeing Jon again and the horror of what had happened here. Brienne avoided Tormund's gaze as she could. Jon also noticed the young Meera Reed, who looked at him suspiciously, her bow and arrows in hand.  
_"Who is she?" Jon asked, his sword still in his hand.  
_ "Meera, from the house Reed." replied Tyrion, introducing her. "She's helping us survive so far... Meera, this is Jon Snow."  
_ "The bastard of Ned Stark and King in the North, yes, I heard about him." said Meera coldly enough.  
_ "Your father and mine were very good friends, Meera." said Jon, which Meera seemed to correct.  
_ "Really? I didn't know my father had been friends with Rhaegar Targaryen."  
This answer froze Jon's blood, which did not know how to answer that. Meera moved a few steps away, preferring to cut off this conversation and head for the Winterfell buildings to enter. Brienne followed her so as not to be alone, and especially to stay away from Tormund's gaze. Jon, though dark compared to the conversation, then approached Samwell.  
_ "What's going on, Sam?! How is it that the dead have come back?! The Night King was killed!"  
_ "Well ... to be honest, no ... we were fooled. The Night King planned everything."  
_"What do you mean?" Jon asked, puzzled but having a very bad feeling.  
"I don't know how, but he managed to take possession of Bran's body ... It's Bran who became the Night King now ... The whole city of King's Landing has been decimated ..."  
Jon's heart leaped in his chest and he stepped back, almost refusing to believe what Sam was telling him. But to see the desperate face of his friend, he knew it was the truth. Why would Sam lie on such a subject? Tyrion, too, showed a sorry face but shouting the truth. Jon had to lean against a wall, looking confused. But Brienne's sudden voice brought them back to the reality of the moment.  
_ "Hey, come on, we're waiting for you to search the inside."  
Although very affected by these awful revelations, Jon had to recover and his sword in hand, accompanied Sam and Tyrion towards the entrance of the nearest building.

*********   
The surviving groups led by Jon and Tyrion, now forming only one large group, had entered the interior of Winterfell Castle. The female giant and some wildlings had stayed outside to watch.  
The interior of the castle was plunged into a morbid semi-darkness and a dead silence reigned there. The gray stone walls and floors were covered with many traces of dry blood and the damage showed the violence that had taken place here. No corpse was in sight.  
Going up the grand staircase leading to the next floor, Jon, Tormund and Brienne were leading the group, walking with great vigilance. Meera, Tyrion, Sam, and the few wildlings present, remained clustered and watched attentively everywhere, paying attention to the slightest noise.  
_ "It's too quiet ... it's not normal." Tormund commented softly, not really reassured. Jon was agree with him, but said nothing. The tension only got louder when listening to strange noises or what seemed to be resonant rattles sometimes in the building, near or far. A loud noise was heard on the lower floor, pushing Brienne to stealthily look down, sword in hand.  
_ "We might have had to inspect it downstairs." she suggested in a nervous voice.  
_"No time." Jon answered frankly and continued up the stairs until he reached the corridor on the upper floor. On a wall, a blood-stained banner of the Starks made him shudder, as well as the many bloody traces of hands that had permeated the stone walls and the floor. Jon was upset to see the house in which he had grown all his life reduced to an empty and silent ruin. He could not believe that Bran was responsible for such a thing. Sam must surely be wrong. And how did the dead return? How was the Night King able to come back? So many questions haunted his already troubled mind. Behind him, Tormund and the few wildlings opened one by one the doors of the corridor, with great precaution, checking that nothing was behind.  
But suddenly, around the corner, Jon froze on the spot, his eyes wide with horror. Seeing him, the others went to his side to see what he had just seen. At a hundred yards, in the middle of the corridor, stood a solitary form. A young woman dressed in a big dark dress stained with a big blood stain on her chest and wearing fur on her shoulders ... Gently lifting her head while cracking her neck, the woman raised her living dead blue eyes on the group of humans, showing a face pale as snow, a trickle of blood flowing from her mouth .... The whole group, especially Jon, Tyrion and Brienne, could not say a word, too shocked to react...  
_ "S ..... Sansa ...." stammered Jon, split between fear and despair.  
_ "Lady Sansa ....." Tyrion sighed, also horrified.  
_ "No ..... no ...." Brienne could only say this word, broken by this vision, her trembling hands holding her sword.  
Sansa, or the wight she had become, let out a carnivorous smile on her frozen lips, leaving another trickle of blood flowing and emitting a kind of bestial grunt, her blue eyes showing a bestial instinct.  
She ran to the group of humans, grunting like an animal pouncing on its prey. Meera, immediately, wanted to shoot an arrow to stop her, but Jon stepped in, and in front of everyone's eyes, empaled Sansa in the belly with Longclaw, with a precise blow. Sansa was frozen on the spot, the blade across the body and emitting weak grunts, looked at Jon, who could not stop the tears from flowing from his eyes. Extirpating the blade of the sword, he looked, devastated, the dead body of Sansa falling at his feet, and this time, would not rise again. Tyrion had to look away, hands on his face and leaned against a wall. Brienne, too, was broken and had to press her hand against the wall.  
Supported by Tormund and Samwell, Jon had fallen to his knees, dropping his sword beside him and crying, took Sansa's corpse in his arms, hugging her against him. Although she was never the kindest with him and he did not forgive her for revealing his secret about his origins, he still considered her sister, having grown up with her.  
_ "Jon ..." Samwell tried to say, but Jon was not listening, too much affected by what he had just done and still holding the girl's lifeless body against him.  
Suddenly, many grunts began to resonate throughout the building, pulling chills out of terror at the members of the group. Fear grew when, with these grunts, noises of races, also very numerous, were heard, closer and closer.  
At the end of the corridor, suddenly, a large group of wights, formerly servants and guards in the service of the Starks, appeared and like wild beasts, ran towards the survivors.  
_ "RUN!!" Tormund shouted, starting to run with his guys. Everyone imitated him and quickly turned around. Jon picked up his sword and forced to leave Sansa's corpse behind him, ran with his companions to flee, while the undead came closer to them, their numbers only growing as others came out of the rooms, filling the corridor with a veritable tide of degenerate living corpses.

***********   
Meereen, Essos

A new night had fallen on the great city of Meereen, and while the nocturnal patrols of the Cade's knights and the unsullied soldiers ensured the tranquility and safety of the citizens, Yara could not sleep and enjoying the calm, took advantage of it to go for a walk alone on the little gray pebble beach situated beside the quays and bordering the immense expanse of water which in the night resembled a great sea of ink where the moon was reflected.  
Facing the sea of the bay, the ironborn queen remained upright, silent, pensive ... her nightmare about Theon, Shen and that inhuman voice speaking to her from the abyssal depths never left her. She did not tell anyone about it, not even Queen Daenerys, knowing that the latter already had enough problems to deal with, among the slave cities resisting her authority, the many demands of the free citizens, her child to be raised, and Moreover, this great and mysterious prophecy concerning her, showing her as the savior of this world ...  
Yara thought. What was that voice? A simple dream? Or was it the drowned god speaking to her? After all, the god of the oceans had the reputation to sometimes speak to his faithful through their dreams or nightmares, but very often for dark reasons ... But why her in particular?  
To be sure, Yara decided to do some sort of little experiment. She looked around, making sure she was alone, and seeing no one in sight, proceeded.  
One by one, she took off her clothes, dropping them at her feet, to find herself completely naked. The soft wind of the night covered her, touching her skin and her hair. The first steps in the cold, black water made her shiver, but she continued to move forward, resigned. It was not for today that a ironborn would be afraid of water in the middle of the night. Yara continued to walk slowly but decidedly, gradually moving away from the shore until she stopped, the water covering her to the waist. Looking again over her shoulder, she saw that no one had seen her. Good. Facing her, the endless expanse of black water, both beautiful and intimidating.  
Taking a deep breath, Yara stooped down, letting herself sink and the black water covering her completely. Now surrounded on all sides by aquatic darkness, Yara, who had kept her eyes closed, ventured to open them, seeing nothing but darkness, and some bubbles coming out of her mouth. The cold penetrated her flesh, her blood, starting a headache and tickling her unpleasantly. But she stayed, holding her breath as much as possible and emptying her head, closing her eyes again.  
_"What is dead may never die...." suddenly whispered a terrifying voice in the dark waters. Yara felt her heart leap in her chest and quickly opened her eyes. This time she was not sleeping and could not have dreamed. She had heard that voice she recognized, never having been able to forget. She looked furtively around her, seeing nothing but black water as far as the eye could see.  
Am I getting nuts? She was wondering more and more. She wanted to get her head out of the water to breathe but was suddenly trapped underwater by a strong, sticky grip on her leg. Lowering her eyes, she saw with astonishment a kind of black tentacle coming from the darkness that was wrapping her ankle, preventing her from going up. Not having her weapons and her heart beating as hell, Yara struggled as much as she could, but the hold was too strong.  
Around her, in the dark waters, she heard the howling and screaming echoes of the voices of her brother Theon and Shen-Zoan, as if undergoing a thousand hellish tortures. Then the disembodied voice was heard again.  
_ "They are dead .... you let them die ... Do you think you deserve to wear the crown of the iron islands? ...... you are pathetic .... weak .... WEAK!!"  
Yara screamed in her mind, as if to address the thing that spoke to her. Her lungs made her suffer terribly from lack of air. She almost thought she was dying.  
Then, the grip faded and Yara pulled herself out of the water as fast as she could, coughing out loud to spit out the seawater she had in her mouth. Crawling on the sand, soaked to the bones, and went away from the black water, panting hard to catch the breath and looked at the sea for the first time with a frightened attitude. The inhuman voice still haunted her, pursuing her relentlessly ... what the seven hells could that be?

**********   
Meanwhile....

In her royal apartments at the top of the pyramid, Daenerys suddenly awoke, gasping and sweat-stricken, sitting in the middle of her big bed. She felt her heart leap at a furious pace in her chest and tried to calm down, blowing deeply.  
Dressed in a tall, thin, light-colored silk dress from Volantis, her long silver hair fluttering cascading down her shoulders, the young queen rose from her bed, feeling the cold soil of the night beneath her bare feet and lit a candle to illuminate the great room of this darkness. Outside, the wind was blowing slightly on the balcony, cradling the Targaryen banners in the air.  
Holding the candle in his hand, Daenerys silently approached the cradle where was sleeping peacefully her daughter Rhaellys, well protected by her blanket. Daenerys watched her sleep, and her daughter's vision soothed her a little and managed to make her smile. However, the nightmare she had just made haunted her mind ...  
This time she was in Westeros, more precisely in the north .... holding her daughter in her arms, she ran, alone and lost, frightened, in the middle of a large field of dark snow tinged with fresh blood .. Blue-eyed corpses pursued her ferociously, making their monstrous grunts sound in the air and drawing near her ... Among the wights were familiar faces, disfigured by putrefaction .... Jorah, Missandei , Grey Worm .... They howled like mad beasts, their mouths vomitting blood, their blue eyes shining in the northern night .... And further back, standing upright and immovable in the midst of an infinite army of corpses, stood Bran Stark, whose skin now resembled streaked ice, and sporting three inhuman blue eyes, including one in the middle of the forehead. A cadaverous crow coming to rest on his shoulder, emitting despicable croaking.  
Daenerys extricated herself from these macabre thoughts, shivering just thinking about it. Rhaellys did not seem to be having nightmares. All the better. But this nightmare made Daenerys even more afraid for her child's life. Her dreams, without her knowing why, tended to become realities. Surely another power to be granted by the red god, who knows? All but a gift, she thought. And if after all the masked red woman said true? If the dead and the Night King were back, what would happen? No, they could never cross the sea to come to Essos? Unless the Long Night reaches Essos by another way? Daenerys shuddered with terror. She did not know what to do, troubled by all these questions.  
Suddenly, the candle she held in hand began to get hotter and heavier, for no reason, so much so that Daenerys had to put it on the table. The flame, at first small and throbbing, became more and more agitated, as animated by a will of its own. Daenerys drew back near the cradle of his daughter, his eyes wide with stupefaction and his heart beating. Then, she felt an invisible presence but very heavy around her in the darkness of the room. Rhaellys continued to sleep without feeling anything. Swallowing and staying close to her daughter to protect her, Daenerys looked around her in the darkness, grabbing her sword. Although she still needs training, she would not hesitate to hit.  
_ "Who ... who is there?" she asked firmly, in spite of the fear. A sudden crackling of the candle's flame made her jump out of surprise.  
_ "I can see it ... doubts and fears gnawing your mind like vermin eat away carrion ... your enemies can see it too, and they'll use that advantage to destroy you."  
This voice from beyond falls, shaking the bones and eardrums and inspiring heaviness unparalleled .... Daenerys had already heard it before .... R'hllor ....  
_ "They can't stop me ..." replied the young queen trying to stay strong "... nobody can ... not even you ...."  
A mocking sneer echoed through the room, tearing Daenerys off the quiver, wondering if provoking an entity like this was wise. She then felt the presence just right behind her left shoulder, but when she watched, there was nothing. Despite the power of the voice, Rhaellys did not wake up, as if she did not hear what's going on.  
_ "Whatever how strong you are, they will never let you go, not while you and your offspring are alive...the cold and eternal night comes, and only the fire of the dragon can stop it." then shouted the voice of the red god, louder and louder. Daenerys, beating heart, glanced at her daughter, and guessed what the entity wanted from her.  
_ "No .... I would not go back there .... I would not give up my daughter to risk my life for this band of traitors!!" Daenerys affirmed, her hands trembling on his sword. The flame of the candle crackled again, violently and the response of the red god was not long, very cold and direct.  
_ "Your resentment is mediocre, unworthy of a chosen one of light ... Do you believe that you are safe?" Nothing stops the advance of darkness, and if you are ready to let this world rot to save one poor little life, then you deserve to rot with .... "  
Daenerys was shaking, hearing this heavy, grave voice speak in her ears more and more closely and with a supernatural ferocity. She felt her legs tremble, but did everything to not faint.  
_ "Leave us alone ..." she sighed firmly, clenching her teeth.  
_ "You will die here ..." R'hllor's voice rang out around her, accentuating the heaviness of the room as if she were about to crash into herself. "And all your sufferings will be for nothing!"  
_ "LEAVE US!!" Daenerys yelled, waving her sword in front of her in one swoop. The presence then vanished into the air in a fraction of a second and the candle was extinguished by itself, letting only a thin stream of volute smoke escape from the wick.  
Falling on her knees, sweat and sword in hand, Daenerys gasped, no longer feeling this disturbing presence in the room. The sudden cry of Rhaellys made her let go of her sword and straighten up.  
_ "Shhh ... shhh ... it's nothing, love, it's nothing ... I'm here ..." Daenerys murmured gently, taking her daughter carefully in her arms to rock her.  
Alerted by the noises, Grey Worm and two unsullied burst into the room, armed with their spears and shields.  
_ "My queen, are you all right?" asked the commander of the unsullied.  
_ "Yes, Grey Worm .... yes, thank you ..... it was just a bad dream ...." the young queen affirmed to reassure her commander and friend. The latter, though puzzled, seemed to nod, but looked all over the room with his men, while Daenerys, holding her daughter in her arms, cast a last shuddering glance at the candle, whose wick hinted at a last and small embers.


	26. Part 25

Westeros, Winterfell

_ "Quick, run, we have to leave!!"  
Jon screamed with all his might after killing an undead who was blocking him. He and the rest of the group had been able to reach the outside, in the main courtyard, to find that many of the wildlings that had stayed outside to watch, were already submerged by several wights devouring them alive. The giant female, Mahr, was still alive and getting rid of the wights that encircled her, crushing them with her feet or hitting them with her mass with violence.  
Tyrion, too short-legged to run fast, was hanging in Sam's back, while Brienne and Tormund, weapons in hand, protected them by destroying creatures coming too close. Meera shot several arrows, killing several wights trying to approach.  
The survivors kept running to the main entrance of Winterfell to get out, still pursued by more and more undead coming to form real waves of a tidal wave of putrefied flesh and blood. With horror, looking up, Jon and the survivors could see the broken windows of the buildings and the ruined walls, vomiting hordes of rabid dead, literally raining down floors like a cascade of grunts. Crashing on the ground, the corpses rose very quickly, unaffected by the fall and ran like ferocious beasts towards their prey. Former servants, guards, peasants, noble people, etc ... they were nothing now but bloodthirsty monsters, their dead skins and their bloody clothes emanating a foul odor and their inhuman blue eyes shining with a bestial rage like no other.  
Mahr the giant female remained last to protect the escape of the group of humans, sometimes striking a great swing with her mass to repel the dead too close. Tormund, with horror, saw two more of his wildling brothers, not quick enough and cautious, to be violently jumped on and covered by hordes of undead. Unable to stop, knowing that it was too late for them, he continued running, clenching his teeth.  
While running at the front of the group, Jon looked, with gloom and horror, all around him. The hordes of dead, snaking up at each other, hinting at this orchestra of monstrous grunts echoing through the air. Some pictures of the Battle of Winterfell against the army of the dead came back to him. But this time, the dead had won the victory over the living.  
Finally arriving outside the walls of Winterfell, the group of survivors observed with horror that the horses of Jon and the group of wildlings were dead, being covered and devouring by a large horde of wights. Ghost, too, scolded fiercely while trying to repel several creatures. Jon ran immediately to the aid of his wolf and both managed to put the monsters on the ground. Jon looked at Ghost to make sure he was not hurt, and apart from a slight superficial cut in his face, he had nothing.  
But the reunion was very short. From the surrounding hills and pine forest suddenly appeared hundreds of other living corpses with blue eyes, all running forward like a tide of putrefied flesh towards the survivors.  
_ "It's not possible, they're everywhere!" Brienne whispered, terrified.  
_ "Do not talk, run!!" Tormund shouted, taking her by the hand. Frightened by the infinite number of undead, as if all the north swept over them, the survivors ran as fast as they could in one direction, trying to escape this deadly circle that was slowly closing on them. But as he was running away with the others, Jon suddenly saw something that paralyzed him with horror. His eyes were round and his mouth silent, he was observing this blue-eyed figure, white face-like death, recognizable, riding a dead horse, standing on one of the hills and gazing silently at the scene. The figure then stared at him, watching Jon in the eyes....it was him...  
_ "Bran ...." was the only word Jon could utter in his terror as palpable as the snowflakes that fell on his face.  
*********   
Meereen, Essos

Yara could not really sleep anymore, with all those nightmares about her brother Theon and Shen-Zoan, and what she had seen, or thought she saw, that night on the beach. The young Queen of the Iron Islands, to occupy her mind with something else, decided to accompany Grey Worm today during one of his patrols in the streets of the city. A group of six unsullied followed them in perfect rows, walking in the middle of one of the quiet alleys of one of the old slaves' quarters of the lower town, under the gaze of a few locals getting busy or a group of kids playing.  
Dressed in her kraken coat of arms, her big gray cloak and her sword and short ax at her waist, Yara walked slowly, silently, looking a little gloomy and with very conspicuous dark circles having dug under his eyes. Grey Worm, while walking, had noticed and seemed perplexed.  
_ "You do not seem to be fine." he remarked, "Is it since the death of Lord Shen?"  
_ "I don't really want to talk about it yet." Yara replied in a slightly annoyed tone, though she was not angry with the unsullied commander. Grey Worm seemed to understand it, but insisted.  
_ "You must not keep what is bothering inside you, or you will never feel better. Talking is sometimes the best of healings."  
Yara stared at him, perplexed. She almost felt like she was hearing Shen speak with those words of wisdom.  
_ "Shen taught you that?" she asked. Grey Worm shook his head slightly in response, and Yara saw his lips tense a little and his eyes change, obviously showing a sort of sadness passed.  
_ "It's Missandei." he answered. "She was teaching me words, but she was also able to make me talk about me, things from my past that I did not want to say, and she said it would free my heart and mind from being too heavy to carry. I think she had learned it from Lord Shen when they were both slaves in Astapor."  
Yara understood better now. She actually thought back to those moments when Shen had talked about his old life as a slave, the times he had defended Missandei against her master's anger and where he was being punished instead of her. Yara felt her throat knit against the memories of her friend from Yi-Ti. What an injustice she thought in the background. He, who had been abandoned at birth, then slave, and ultimately sacrificed his life. He deserved to be able to live a long, free life like air and to travel all over the world. She would like to show him the Iron Islands, to introduce him to the history and heritage of the Greyjoy family.  
_"AAAAAAAAAAAH!!"  
Yara was brutally extirpated from her thoughts by the cry of fear of a woman who rang out and seemed to come from a very close street. Without losing a second, Grey Worm, Yara and the unsullied soldiers group rushed towards the scream, forcing the intrigued few to step aside.  
They finally arrived at the corner of a street, to arrive in the middle of a small crossing. On the ground, in front of them, lay the lifeless body of an unsullied guard, alone. A bloody wound in his back covered his body and stained his armor with blood. A young woman dressed very humbly was huddled against a wall, horrified and staring at the body, trembling.  
_ "Watch the streets!!" immediately ordered Grey Worm to the other soldiers who obeyed and spears and shields in hand, began to look everywhere around them. Yara immediately went to the Meereen's young woman, taking her by the shoulders and forcing her to look into her eyes.  
_ "What happened?! Answer me!!" Yara asked, very insistent and almost scared the young woman who was silent and trembling with fear.  
_ "Queen Yara ...." Grey Worm said in a dark voice as he knelt beside his soldier's body to examine him. Yara turned to the young commander and joined him immediately to discover the detail that visibly plunged him into a deep confusion. In the hand of the dead, had it been placed voluntarily, which looked like a mask. A golden mask, representing a neutral and disturbing face and provided with what looked like two curved horns. If this mask evoked nothing for Yara, she saw Grey Worm's grave face against it. He knew what it was, all too well, apparently.  
_ "Grey Worm .... what is it?" Yara asked, expecting not to like the answer that would follow.  
**********  
Some moments later....

Immediately alerted by what had happened in town, Queen Daenerys had ordered a council meeting around the big round table in the throne room. Ser Cade had also been summoned and had returned from his patrol earlier than planned. Daenerys, Yara, Gray Worm and Ser Cade, all four were now gathered around this table, or in its center had been deposited the mask of gold found on the place of the murder. Yara also noticed that this mask seemed to bring back very bad memories to Queen Targaryen, seeing her face darkened and worried.  
_ "They came back ....." Daenerys commented darkly, her hands clenching slightly "... The Sons of the Harpy."   
_ "But who are they exactly?" Yara asked, puzzled and leaning over to the mask to better see it in detail.  
_ "Anarchists and murderers ..." Grey Worm said simply, in a tone full of undisguised contempt.  
_ "They tried to cause chaos and kill me when I was Meereen's queen the first time ...." Daenerys said, fully understanding Grey Worm's anger, but remaining calm above all, even though anger was felt in her voice "... They refused to bow to the new laws that I wanted to bring about the abolition of slavery and the banishment of the combats in the arenas .... they killed one of my friends, Ser Barristan Selmy."  
Grey Worm remembered that tragic day too. He had been seriously injured during the fight. Ser Barristan had fought valiantly, killing many anarchists, but these cowards had managed to take him by surprise and kill him. Too hurt, Grey Worm could not do anything, and even today, he still felt guilty.  
_ "If I had been stronger, Ser Barristan would still be alive." said Grey Worm, blaming himself, to which Daenerys approached him.  
_ "You fought the best you could, Grey Worm." she said, looking at him in the eyes, "his loss was terrible, but to lose you both the same day would have been even more tragic for me, as well as for Missandei."  
The young commander looked at his queen and nodded softly at this answer. Ser Cade spoke as he stepped forward.  
_ "My queen, I think this is a clear answer from the masters of Yunkaï and other cities in the bay."  
_ "I would not be surprised from them ..." Daenerys replied to her knight of the golden dragons "... but I don't want to draw too hasty conclusions. A funeral will be prepared for the guard who was killed. Tomorrow, the city will be watched, neighborhood by neighborhood, house by house, and each individual wearing a mask of the harpy will be executed for the example. I would have no mercy to those who threaten my reign, and my daughter."  
Daenerys had a determined and strong talk. Grey Worm did not seem to oppose and the idea of killing the Sons of the Harpy did not bother him at all. Although somewhat disconcerted by the return of this anarchist movement that they don't know, Yara and Cade also accepted. It was out of the question that the city plunged into chaos.  
_ "What was the name of the soldier who died?" Daenerys asked to Grey Worm.  
_ "White Cockroach."  
_ "Well, White Cockroach will be buried tonight with honors, and his murderer will die in the flames of my dragons, I swear it ..... that will be all, you can retire."  
Grey Worm, Yara and Ser Cade bowed respectfully, and the two men left the room through the main entrance, leaving several guards to keep the Queen safe. Daenerys, as she was going to retire to her royal quarters to see her daughter, was surprised to see Yara still standing in front of the round table, one hand resting on the table and the other hand passing over her eyes and face. The young Targaryen woman approached, in her long white silk dress, to notice the fatigue as visible as the words on the pages of a book, on the face of the ironborn queen.  
_ "Why can not you sleep?" asked Daenerys, concerned about the state of her ally and friend. Yara would not want to talk about it, but she remembered the words of Grey Worm, or rather Shen-Zoan. She should not keep everything in it.  
_ "Well .... let's say that these last days ..... I don't stop having nightmares about Shen ..... and also about my brother Theon ..."  
_"Nightmares?" Daenerys answered, perplexed.  
_ "It sounds like kind of warnings ... or threats .... I don't know anything about it, I just wish I could get to sleep without having to wake up every night with fear." Yara sighed, annoyed and tired, both physically and mentally. Daenerys had listened to her and was more and more disconcerted. Warnings? She herself had recently received an unexpected visit from this masked woman related to the worship of the red god, and had even received from the god himself, who came to tell her about the return of the Long Night, which was normally impossible.  
_ "You should go to sleep a little, Yara .... you will get better after." Daenerys suggested, putting her hand on Yara's. The two young women looked at each other for a moment in the eyes, without a word, and the memory of this furtive kiss between them, few times ago, arose again in their minds, annoying them somewhat.  
_ "I ... I'll go ..." said Yara, who hurried to leave the room, leaving Daenerys alone, also a little embarrassed. But as Yara departed, an unsullied guard arrived in his turn, and standing upright, addressed to the Targaryen queen.  
_ "My queen, a messenger has just arrived by ship and wants to see you."  
_ "Tell this messenger that I don't receive anyone today. He will wait." Daenerys answered with a sigh, she too, needing a few moments of rest after that day.  
_ "He says it's very urgent, my queen ..." the guard insisted, however, "... he says he's coming from beyond the great mountains of the East, from the great empire of Yi Ti."  
At these words, Daenerys stopped in her walk and turned to the guard. Yi Ti? What would an emissary of Yi Ti do here? Curiosity overcame the spirit of the young dragon queen.  
_ "Let him come in. I agree to receive him." she ordered then, to which the guard bowed, then left immediately. More than perplexed to receive the visit of a messenger from this mysterious and legendary country, Daenerys went up the steps and sat down on her Queen's Seat of Meereen, under the protection of several unsullied guards standing by her side, and the big black banner of the three-headed red dragon proudly hanging behind her. To receive a envoy from Yi Ti's empire, it was better to make a good impression, but above all a impression of power.  
A few seconds later, two guards entered, escorting among them a slender man, dressed in a large, dark blue tunic, closed by a black belt around his waist. His skin color was the same as Shen's, just like the slanted eyes, the black and smooth hair on his skull, his hair in a bun and under his nose a thin mustache. Hands hidden under his wide sleeves, the man showed a friendly expression and bowed respectfully to the foot of the steps, in front of Queen Daenerys who then greeted him with a slight nod.  
_ "Talk. I hope you don't waste my time for nothing." declared Daenerys somewhat suspiciously. The messenger, very calm, unrolled a parchment of linen in front of him, which he began to read clearly and loudly.  
_ "God among men, his high magnificence, the emperor Bu Gai, seventeenth of the great lineage of the Azure emperors, presents his sincere greetings to the dragon queen, and asks her to accept this modest gift as a pledge of his good will."  
On these words, the emissary clapped his hands twice very quickly, and immediately another man from Yi Ti, dressed more modestly and obviously a servant in his own way, came to drop a small box at the feet of steps, before retiring while remaining respectfully inclined and without saying a word.   
Daenerys remained curious and then saw the messenger open the box and take the gift under her eyes. A magnificent dragon's egg, fashioned in the smallest details with pure gold, and encrusted on its surface with tiny and sparkling precious stones like stars. Daenerys's eyes shone in front of the fabulous beauty of this object.  
_ "I thank the Emperor for this magnificent present, but I would like to know in what honor? What is worth to me the visit of an emissary of the empire?"  
The messenger then resumed reading the parchment.  
_ "Your legend precedes you, Queen Daenerys, as well as your beauty. The one who rose again in the fire and made the dragons reborn from the stone, deserved my attention. We both want the good of our people, and our two kingdoms would have so much to offer each other, especially in these dark and uncertain times. It would be a pleasure for me to meet you in person and to welcome you to my palace, so that we can discuss together a possible future alliance between the great empire of Yi Ti and your kingdom. Do not see in this gift an attempt to buy you, but rather a pledge of the interest that I carry you. I hope you will make the right decision."  
Once the message was read in full, the messenger rolled the parchment and put it in his sleeves. Daenerys remained divided by what she had just heard.  
_ "Why does the Emperor don't come in person to meet me?" she asked.  
_ "The god emperor never moves, it is the others who come to him ..." replied the messenger, with assurance "...moreover, his high majesty has already much to do to ensure prosperity and security of the empire."  
_ "As much I have to do for the good of my people and my city." replied Daenerys with the same tone "... it seems that we are in a dead end. The offer of your emperor deserves reflection I grant you, and I accept his gift with great pleasure, but know that I will not abandon my city under no pretext ..... as Imperial Emissary, I offer you hospitality, and you can leave tomorrow for Yi Ti to bring your answer to your emperor."  
With these words, the young Targaryen queen rose from her seat and began to walk away to her royal quarters with her guards, leaving the messenger somewhat perplexed and not knowing what to say.  
As she walked down the hallway leading to her royal apartments, Daenerys held in her hands the beautiful and precious golden egg donated by the emperor. While examining it, she noticed small engravings in gold on one side, forming like a sentence that she managed to read and intrigued her: "The flames can burn, but never lie ..."


	27. Part 26

Westeros, Sunspear, Dorne

In the deepest part of the northern kingdom to the southern borders, no kingdom had been spared by the plague of the dead. No more messages were received from the Westerlands, Riverrun or the Stormlands. Nobody could say how was the situation there. On this night without stars, Sunspear, capital of Dorne and former seat of the great house Martell, was the prey of howls and bloody carnage. Everywhere, hordes of dead had invaded the streets and squares, covering the cobbled streets and walls of the houses with the blood of their innumerable victims. The garrison of Dornian soldiers had been almost completely eradicated and the few resistant groups were submerged one by one in front of the incessant waves of living corpses, screaming and grunting like mad beasts. Some families tried to barricade themselves in their homes, but the doors crumbled under the number of creatures. Three leagues to the west, the water gardens, a haven of peace and exotic beauty, had also turned into a place of terror and massacre invaded by the undead, the clear and fresh water of the large basins now colored with blood and sprinkled with corpses.

Even the great gates of Sunspear's palace had not been able to resist the weight of hordes of dead and collapse on the ground, allowing the wights to enter the palace courtyard and exterminate the guards and servants, all panicked. One by one, the noble lords of the court were seized by the creatures, thrown to the ground and devoured or skinned alive in bloody and noisy tears. A crying child, kneeling on the ground, tried to wake his dead mother to the ground, but was immediately torn apart when the mother suddenly opened her blue eyes and jumped on her daughter in an inhuman roar.

The current Prince of Dorne, having been forced to fight against his former guards who became monsters, had managed to lock himself in the tower of crows messengers. His face covered in blood, his clothes dirty and panting with fear and fatigue, his bloody sword in his hands, the prince leaned a few moments against a wall, hearing with horror the howling of his servants and other guards still alive, as well as the roars of creatures, also closer and closer.

Knowing that he probably would not survive, the prince went immediately to a small office and grabbed a paper and pen to write. His hand trembling, he wrote a message as quickly as possible, sometimes jumping for fear when he heard dull bangs knocking against the door, scratching nails on the surface, and bestial grunts. They were here, and knew he was there. Not a moment to lose, thought the prince.

He opened one of the cages containing a raven, the bird stirred by the chaos that reigned. The prince hooked the message to the paw of the fowl and without losing more time, let it fly towards the East.

_ "Let's hope they get this message on time ..." the prince prayed.

Then the Prince of Dorne closed his eyes, clenched his teeth and fists, while behind him the doors of the tower gave way, and a horde of living dead Dornian soldiers and servants rushed upon him.

********

Essos, Yi Ti, Imperial city of Yin

In a street in the lower quarters of the imperial city, the atmosphere had become tense. Kneeling on the dusty ground and lined up, three poorly dressed men were waiting, trembling and faces scarred by fear, held under the threat of the spears of several soldiers. All around, people were watching the scene from afar, not daring to approach.

The general of the armies, Xung Li, then arrived on his horse to see the facts. A soldier approached him and gave him the reason for his coming: a poster briefly torn off a wall, which the general read immediately. The letters Yi Tish, written in red, said: "Kill the unworthy Bu Gai."

_ "We found several of these posters hung in some streets of the city." said the soldier, who then pointed to the three men on their knees "...we have surprised these three wretches with this one."

Xung Li had listened and after reading, remained very calm, tearing the poster in pieces in his hands and letting the scraps of paper fall to the feet of his horse. Although seemingly calm, anger could be read in the irises of the general of the armies, who then advanced with his horse to the three captured men, who seeing the general approaching them, trembled even more than before.

_ "So, you think that his high majesty is unworthy, that he should be killed? You must be suicidal or idiots to hold such pitiful remarks." Xung Li commented, still unnaturally calm, seemingly fond of playing with the nerves of the prisoners to crack them as quickly as possible. However, one of the men dared to speak against him, obviously having nothing to lose in view of the expression of hatred on his deformed face.

_ "An epidemic of gray plague ravages our empire, the people are dying of hunger, while his majesty remains cloistered in his splendid palace, eating to his hunger and protected from the cold and the disease!! He's not an emperor, he's a coward!"

He was then interrupted by a violent kick in the jaw, assaulted by a guard. Xung Li remained stony, and sketched a sort of smirk-smirking corner and answered.

_ "A coward, are you saying? And who would you like to see reign over our empire? These two usurper rebels who claim to be emperors and who for months have been carrying out attacks against the populace? You take them for your liberators? They are not. We are at war, and our almighty sovereign, the Emperor Bu Gai, is doing everything in his power to ensure the safety of this city and its inhabitants."

With these words, the general turned to his officers, who were also mounted on their horses, waiting in silence for the orders of their superior.

_ "Organize patrols and arrest the instigators of this despicable anarchist movement. For this crime I will decimate their entire families, and for those who have done nothing to prevent these posters from being hung up, the sentence will be the same."

The officers obeyed and began to form patrols of men. Meanwhile, Xung Li unsheathed his sword from his scabbard, and with a sharp and precise blow, decapitated the first of the three captured men. The blood spurted and the head rolled in the dust, under the terror gazes of the other two. In their turn, the two men were executed without hesitation by the guards, under the eyes of the other inhabitants, as a warning to whoever would dare to challenge the authority of the legitimate emperor.

*********

That night, at the imperial palace of Yin, the Emperor Bu Gai could not sleep, and he was dressed in his kimono with broad sleeves sewn with gold thread, which he had walking alone, illuminating with a lantern, in the imperial archives. Total silence reigned over the palace and since the emperor had learned about an anarchist movement to overthrow him, the guard had been doubled. Another maneuver of this usurper wizard, thought Bu Gai.

In the light of the lantern, he spent the last few hours tirelessly reading old, dusty scrolls and chipped grimoires that seemed not to have been open for a long time. Stacking the manuscripts and books on top of each other, the Emperor sighed in annoyance, apparently failing to find the one he was looking for. Then, finally, after a few hours of searching, he finally found the old manuscripts he so much hoped for, telling the story of one of the greatest empires that has ever existed in history. An empire that once rivaled in terms of power with the great empire of the east: Valyria.

Running through the pages written in black ink, Bu Gai was able to read the ascent of Valyria and their dragons. He also read about the god emperor Chai Duq, fourth of the yellow emperors dynasty, who had once married a Valyrian noble woman, and possessed a dragon at his court. This marriage seemed to have sealed a sort of alliance between Valyria and Yi Ti, ensuring peace and commercial prosperity between both empires. In reading this, Bu Gai remained thoughtful. He also read the story of the Valyrian family who managed to escape the scourge that destroyed the empire of Valyria: the house Targaryen, whose coat of arms, the red dragon with three heads, had been carefully draw on the parchment that held the emperor.

In his youth, during his education to become one of the lords of this nation, Bu Gai had been able to read stories about Aegon Targaryen, the conqueror, and his dragon, Balerion, and how he had conquered this land at the west named Westeros. In recent days, Bu Gai had inquired among his imperial scholars, to learn more about this young queen of Meereen, Daenerys Targaryen, and had to admit recognize a certain point in common with this Aegon the conqueror. She, too, with her dragons, had managed to conquer and establish an empire, still modest, around the Slaver's Bay, since renamed the Dragon's Bay. According to rumors from the West of Essos, but also from the mysterious Asshai, rumors peddled by the worshipers of R'hllor, Daenerys Targaryen would have come back to life, in the flames and ashes, by the will of the red god, because she is the one who would one day overcome darkness and give birth to a new world. Bu Gai recognized there the prophecy of the one who was promised, legend also very present to Yi Ti. And recently, from the rumors in the west, the queen Daenerys would have gave birth to a child.

For the emperor, all these coincidences: the call of the mystic monks, the nights more and more long and cold, the return of a Valyrian lineage as well as the dragons ... it could not be the result of a simple hazard.

_ "Are you sure that Targaryen queen will answer my offer? And do not lie to me!" said Bu Gai in a voice full of doubt. From the darkness, behind him, appeared a young Yi Tish woman, carrying on her the big dark red dress of the priestesses of Asshai.

_ "She will do it, majesty ..." said the priestess very calmly, not at all intimidated by the Emperor's voice. "Just like you, she is full of doubt, but our Lord guides her on the path of her destiny, as for all of us. Every step she takes leads her to the East, where she must to be .... and you will be at her side when the last night comes to take the life of all men .... as you already know it: the flames can burn, but never lie."

On these last words, the red priestess turned her heavy and neutral gaze towards the little throbbing flame of the lantern, also pushing the Emperor to look at it, dancing under the little glass bell.

**********

Meereen, Essos

Since the discovery of a potential return of the anarchist sect of the Sons of the Harpy, security in the city of Meereen had been strengthened. From now on, every patrol in the streets, day and night, consisted of at least six men and a curfew was established by order of Queen Daenerys. Any civilian caught outside after curfew would be arrested and taken to prison for interrogation, and those who resisted and would show hostil to the guards would be killed.

Wishing to strengthen her troops to better face the anarchist movements that threaten her rule, the queen of the dragoons, under orders, made known instructions to recruit any young men vigorous to join the ranks of the army to serve the protection and to the peace of the city. However, only the volunteers would be allowed, Daenerys not wanting to take children from the arms of their mothers by force. She was not like those monsters of masters who did not hesitate to kill babies for their own profit.

On this already hot morning, in the courtyard of the great barracks at the foot of the Great Pyramid, training had begun for young recruits who had wanted to become soldiers in the service of the queen Targaryen. Grey Worm, as unsullied commander, supervised a training. 200 volunteers, for the moment, had announced to join the ranks of the troop. The youngest of them were barely twelve or thirteen, too young to have known the warmth of a woman, and were for the most part orphans, former slaves, whose parents had been killed by the cruelty of the masters.

The instructors were tough on new recruits, not hesitating to hitting them and throwing them on the ground during combat training. A brutal method that Grey Worm had known during his initiation, but necessary to train true warriors.

Today, all gathered in the middle of the yard, the new recruits learned the perfect handling of the three spears and the shield, repeating in unison the movements indicated by the instructors, under the watchful eye of Grey Worm, who stands straight, impassive, hands in the back, watching for the worst possible mistake. Among these young men, robust and dedicated to serving their queen, one in particular stood out. His face was juvenile but hard, he must have been fifteen or sixteen years old. Brown eyes, dull skin, very short black hair and flat, he had a body already chunky for his young age. Grey Worm had observed him, noting his quick and unusual mastery of weapons.

The sudden arrival of Queen Daenerys in the courtyard of the barracks, escorted by a group of guards, stopped the training and all, instructors and recruits, turned and bowed to the queen.

_ "Come on, resume your training." declared the queen, not wanting to interrupt the course. The instructions then resumed, while Daenerys advanced to her ally and friend Grey Worm, who saluted her as he should.

_"My queen."

_ "So, how does it look?" she asked, contemplating the training.

_ "200 new recruits for the moment, my queen, but others will come, I am sure ..... this one, for example, will make an excellent troop leader, I feel it." said Grey Worm, pointing to the young man named Imad. Daenerys smirked. She trusted her friend.

_ "Tell him to come in. I'd like to talk to him." she asked. Grey Worm obeyed and then signaled to Imad to stop what he was doing and to come immediately. Laying his spear, the young man came out of the ranks and ran immediately to the commanding officer and the queen, before whom he knelt respectfully, bowing his head.

_"Stand up." Daenerys said in a friendly tone, which he did then, staying straight and serious. "How are you called?"

_ "Imad, your grace." he answered. His voice was very old for his age. Daenerys then saw all the marks and scars on his sweaty body. Brands too old to be blows received at training. A vestige of his slave life, no doubt.

_ "Why did you want to join the ranks of my army, Imad?" Daenerys asked, "You're very young, you're free, you know you could be killed if you decided to become a soldier. What are your motives?"

_ "My parents were slaves." Imad told, "My father died in the combats arena, my mother was whipped to death for committing a crime against our master, and to punish me, they forced me to watch her body being crucified and be devoured by vultures in full sun. I was there when the silver queen, the one told to us in the stories by our parents and grandparents, made her return on the back of her dragon, black as the night, and rained down the fire on the tyrants, as the red priestesses had announced. Since that day, since you broke my chains, I swore to serve you and fight for you."

Daenerys listened to him, her heart aching for what he had endured, and could see when he spoke, sincerity, strength, and determination in his irises. She was touched by such words, but was also reserved. A boy so young ready to give his life as if it did not matter. Daenerys had lost so many allies in her life, all of whom had dedicated their lives to her, but she did not want them to sacrifice their lives as if they were nothing. Advancing to Imad, she looked him in the eyes.

_ "Fight for me, Imad, but above all, fight for yourself and your parents." she said, almost like an order, to which, Imad nodded softly. With that, he was allowed to return to the ranks to resume training. Meanwhile, Grey Worm and Daenerys walked a little along the courtyard, talking to each other.

_ "What is your opinion about the message of the Emperor of Yi Ti? Should I answer it?" asked the young dragon queen. Grey Worm, who was at her royal council, had the right to speak.

_ "I think, my queen, that it would be a mistake to refuse. Far from me the idea of saying that our forces are weak, but we need strong allies. The other cities in the bay have banded together against you and these attacks of the Sons of the Harppy are just warnings. We already have Queen Yara's army and the dothrakis to support us, but an alliance with the Emperor of Yi Ti would be a boon for us."

_ "But what can the emperor require of me in return? That's what worries me the most," Daenerys explained, "He could also try to seduce me to get hands on my empire, and that I could not accept it. I would never be the puppet of anyone."

_ "I understand your point of view, my queen ..." replied the commander respectfully "... but do not forget who you are. You the queen of Meerren, mother of the dragons and the one who was promised by the red god. You must show your strength to the emperor, to make him understand that you are a dominant, not a dominated."

Daenerys remained silent for a few seconds, pensive. Although eager to form powerful alliances to strengthen her position and the security of her vast yet unborn empire, she remained suspicious, her past experience having taught her to be wary of certain rulers she believed to be her allies.

_ "And Ser Cade, and Yara Greyjoy, what do they think of this alliance proposal?" asked Daenerys, wishing to receive the thoughts of all her advisers. Grey Worm answered then.

_ "Ser Cade is of the opinion that an alliance could bring great military and commercial opportunities to another empire, and Queen Yara ... well .... to tell the truth, she did not really think about it. .... these days, she seems ... elsewhere .... "

Daenerys also suspected it. Since Shen's death, Yara was constantly suspicious, more and more gloomy and angry, no longer sleeping, being beset by nightmares that she herself could not explain ... Daenerys was sincerely concerned for her, not just for her position as leader of the ironborn armies, but also as an ally and faithful friend. Yara was among the only ones in Westeros to have remained loyal to her. Daenerys put her hand on Grey Worm's shoulder.

_ "Tell Yara that I would like to speak to her, and as for the proposal of the Emperor of Yi Ti ... I will take a decision tonight."

_"As you wish, your grace." answered Grey Worm with respect. Daenerys went back to the pyramid, escorted by her group of guards, while Grey Worm resumed his training watch.

But as she walked, the young queen looked up at the sky, to see Drogon's tall, flying form, roaring powerfully in the air, which had grown in size, as well as the young dragon Joreas, who had grown up as well but was comparable to a dwarf next to his big brother. However, Daenerys looked worried and turned to one of the guards.

_ "Have you seen Mirrandes recently? I have not seen her for several days. I'm really getting worried."

**********

Somewhere on the east coast of Westeros

A few days ago, the young female dragon Mirrandes, carried away by her youthful instinct and her desire for freedom, went on an adventure and flew towards the West, crossing the sea to finally reach the coasts of this land she did not know. Of the three dragons, Mirrandes was the most small, but the most agile and fast, her speed of flight having allowed her to reach this land in only three days. With this speed of flight, Daenerys had found a nickname for her: Mirrandes, the shooting fire star.

Hungry after such a long flight, she spotted a deer that she had immediately caught and killed, and was now busy ripping up its prey with its claws and plunging its fangs into the bloody and juicy flesh of its prey. While swallowing a bite of flesh, Mirrandes, on the lookout, observed the surroundings around her. She had never seen a land so dark, covered with snow, and so silent. Only the sound of the waves of the sea nearby and the cold wind blowing could be heard.

Suddenly, as she was about to pick up a piece of flesh, Mirrandes raised her head and grunted ferociously, her predatory instincts warning her. Something was approaching her very quickly, she could feel it, despite the thick fog that covered the area.

Then she sensed something and grunted in surprise at the sight of the deer's corpse at her feet, who straightened his head furtively towards her and gave an atrocious and frayed scream, while his irises were dyed blue and his stomach poured out his bloody organs on the ground, without being affected. Immediately, Mirrandes reacts and spits his flames on the stag coming back to life, making it even more screaming.

A grunting, human form then leaped out of the mist on Mirrandes' shoulder and began stabbing her with a blade. Roaring with pain, Mirrandes grasped the thing in her jaw and threw it to the ground with violence. Other forms arose then. Men, emaciated and putrefied, with blue eyes and grunting like animals, ran without fear towards the dragon caught unprepared.

Furious, Mirrandes once again unleashed her flames of flame in her jaw, igniting several wights in her infernal veil, reducing them to heaps of innocuous ash. Unfortunately, in front of the growing number of creatures, Mirrandes listened to her instinct and decided to flee, spreading her wings and dropping off the cliff to fly better with the currents, over the rough sea, so to go back to the East. The young female dragon then looked one last time to the cliffs, still seeing these legions of blue-eyed undead creatures, motionless, upright, watching her leave, hinting in the air their inhuman grunts.


	28. Part 27

Meereen, Essos

After failing to convince Queen Daenerys Targaryen to respond to the emperor's call, the Yi Tish ambassador, somewhat taken aback by the refusal, left to join his ship moored in port and constantly under the protection of a group of imperial guards. As he climbed the wooden bridge to reach the bridge, the ambassador could observe life taking place on the quays, as well as the patrols of unsullied soldiers, reinforced since these mysterious attacks from a sect called the Sons of the Harpy. The large ironborn fleet was also still there, ready to set sail immediately or the queen will order it. A certain tense calm reigned in the city, but how much longer would it take before the oil was thrown even more on the fire?  
The ambassador descended the steps to the lower levels of the ship, where the sailors worked as usual. Heading towards the bottom of the ship, he then opened an insulated wooden door, revealing behind a small room furnished with a basic bed and a small desk. Behind this desk, lit by the simple light of a shy candle, sat a person, visibly busy sharpening a blade, judging by the sounds resonating softly in the dark. A little intimidated, the ambassador came very timidly and bowed to the desk.  
_ "Lord Meng. Forgive my intrusion, but I regret to tell you that I did not succeed in convincing the silver queen to meet our divine emperor."  
No response came at first from the man hidden in the shadows, except for a serious and calm "hmmmph". The ambassador seemed worried about the reaction to come, as feared for his life. Then, ceasing to sharpen his blade, the other man decided to answer.  
_ "In a way, I expected it. She is a dragon after all, and dragons never had to answer from anyone. I expected nothing less from her."  
_ "But then, my lord. How are we going to convince her?" asked the ambassador, a little lost. The man in the shadows rose silently, tucking his blade in his sheath at his belt and spoke with a calm but assured calmness.  
_ "It's simple ... to attract the attention of a dragon, you have to be worthy of interest, to impress it .... and I know exactly how to do it."

***********

Following the meeting with the ambassador of Yi Ti and the recent visions or "meetings" with the red god, the young queen Daenerys felt lost and hesitant. What should she do? Go and meet this god-emperor from the far reaches of the world and risk abandoning his people again? When the Sons of the Harpy were back? No, she couldn't do it. However, the warnings of the red god continued to haunt her, warning of the return of Long Night. It was a real headache for her.  
Feeling isolated, the queen had ordered at the start of this hot and dry evening a new meeting with her close advisers and friends. In the royal apartments, gathered around a small round table Ser Cade, Grey Worm and Yara Greyjoy, seated and silent, while Daenerys was slowly pacing around the table, nervously, sometimes glancing towards the cradle where her daughter were lying.  
_ "If this emperor absolutely wants to make an alliance with us, why doesn't he come himself?" asked Cade somewhat annoyed.  
_ "According to the ambassador, Yi Ti is currently in the grip of a civil war, three lords are fighting for the right to rule, and moreover, an epidemic of gray plague is raging in the empire." Daenerys explained.  
_ "And he wants you to come to his land anyway? I object, my queen. It is far too dangerous." Cade replied firmly.  
_ "On the other hand, this alliance would be beneficial for us." said Grey Worm, quieter, "We need allies and Emperor Yi Tish's army would be a great start. In addition, trade deals would be doubly beneficial for our nascent empire."  
_ "But don't you think that the emperor of Yi Ti has an idea in mind? He doesn't do that out of kindness of heart. He will demand something from our queen in return." said Cade.  
_ "It's obvious ..." said Daenerys, in agreement with Captain Cade. "but I hope, for him, that he will not become too greedy with me, otherwise, he will literally understand what the expression "playing with fire" means."  
_ "Queen Yara, what is your opinion on this subject?" asked Cade, finding the ironborn queen very quiet since the council started. Indeed, she had not said a word and seemed lost in thought. A new mention of her name made her emerge as from a waking dream and she rubbed her eyes with fatigue.  
_ "Yara, since when haven't you slept?" said Daenerys, raising her voice a little annoyed "... you will be of no use if you can barely keep your focus."  
_ "Sorry, you grace ..." whispered Yara heavily "... it's just hard to keep your eyes closed when ghosts come and see you all the time."  
Ghosts? Cade and Gray Worm looked somewhat puzzled, but Daenerys could see from Queen Greyjoy's eyes the doubt and fear that devoured her from the inside.   
Suddenly, deaf noises of combat and blows were heard nearby, just behind the door of the royal apartments.  
_"What...?" said Grey Worm, dark.  
Alerted, Grey Worm and Ser Cade rose and took up their blades, standing ready, while taking her sword, Yara stood before the queen as the last line of defense. Daenerys, worried, drew back towards the cradle of her daughter and grabbed the scabbard of her sword. Although she still has progress to make in handling the weapon, she will defend herself anyway. The baby woke up and started to cry a little.  
The doors of the royal apartments suddenly opened, an unsullied guard having been thrown back, visibly knocked out. An unknown man then entered the room with a slow but sure step facing the queen and her allies. Behind him, in the corridor, several other guards were lying on the ground, but still seemed to be breathing. All were more than surprised. How could this man alone have defeated an unsullied squad without killing them?  
Grey Worm and Cade faced the unknown man, ready to fight against him.  
_ "Who are you and how dare you burst into the queen's apartments like that?!" openly threatened Cade. The stranger did not react and remained calm. Daenerys watched him.  
He was tall, thin and the skin of his face and slanted eyes indicated his Yi Tish origin. His face was marked by the years, and especially by several scars, and his black hair slightly graying like snow, were tied in a bun behind his head.  
He wore a simple dark red embroidered linen jacket, and a mesh vest underneath, as well as leather tack on the wrists and legs. A sort of scarf of black fabric was wrapped around his neck. Hanging from his belt was a large sheath containing a saber with a slightly curved blade. Daenerys felt his gaze on her, her two black eyes, serious and strong. Whoever this man was, he was a killer. On his shoulder, the man was carrying a large worn canvas bag, visibly full. The bag was dyed a thick reddish color and a cloud of flies fluttered around, probably because of the smell of blood which escaped from it.  
Against all odds, the man with the saber put the bag next to him and put one knee on the ground.  
_ "My name is Meng, your majesty. Forgive this most unsual intrusion, but I couldn't wait to get an interview with you. Rest assured, I did not kill any of your guards. They are simply knocked out."  
Remaining wary of him, Daenerys took a few steps, showing a somewhat annoyed face at this unexpected arrival.  
_ "Before I decide to give you my dragons as meal, may I know why you wanted to talk to me so much?" she said calmly but with fierce. Despite this threat, Meng was not destabilized and spoke again.  
_ "Your distrust and your redundancy towards me is most understandable, this is why, as proof of my good faith, I brought you a gift."  
Meng then grabbed the canvas bag and dumped the contents onto the floor in front of him. Daenerys, Yara, Grey Worm and Cade all looked surprised. Heads! a dozen severed heads, all wearing the golden masks of the Sons of the Harpy. The heads had been cut at the level of the neck, with a visibly almost superhuman dexterity.  
_"What is that?" Daenerys asked, more than taken aback and looking at the heads one by one.  
_ "The ten leaders of these anarchists whom you name the Sons of the Harpy. I had succeeded in obtaining information about the location of their secret meeting place. Killing them then was child play."  
Daenerys and her allies were speechless. How could a single man have killed a dozen armed men alone and without having a single scratch? Was he simply telling the truth or was it a ruse orchestrated by the slave masters in order to deceive her? Having suffered many betrayals during her life, the young Queen Targaryen was more careful now.  
_ "If what you say is true, then what do you demand in return?" Daenerys asked keeping a good distance, counting on Yara, Gray Worm and Ser Cade to help her if needed. The warrior Yi Tish then looked up at her.  
_ "That you meet his high majesty, the god-emperor Bu Gai, and make an alliance with him, as he wishes."  
_ "It seemed to me, however, to have been clear to your ambassador..." commented Daenerys, annoyed "... I will never leave my city. The master slavers of the bay have made alliance against me and are only waiting for the slightest sign of weakness on my part to launch their offensive."  
_ "The emperor knows it well ..." answered Meng calmly "... and as proof of his confidence, a ship of Yi Ti is already under way at the hour we speak, with on board a legion of 300 well-trained soldiers to strengthen your garrison. Each of these soldiers agreed to obey the emperor, but also you, the mother of dragons, as the emperor decided."  
Daenerys had listened to him carefully, but again was he really telling the truth? She hesitated, but on the other hand, these 300 men would be welcome against a possible attack by the masters. But the emperor surely expected something in return to send these men to her. To meet her?  
_ "Even if you swear on your honor, how can I be sure you will keep your word?" Daenerys asked, not entirely convinced. Meng suspected it and then offered something.  
_ "In this case, in order to prove my honor, I put my life in your hands. Allow me to confront your strongest warrior, with a handicap: I would not have the right to kill him, but he can kill me kill if he wants to. My only means of victory will be to disarm him. What do you say?"  
Daenerys hesitated once more and turned his gaze to her ally and dear friend, Grey Worm. The unsullied commander showed a determined look to his queen. He wanted to do it.  
_ "Do you think he is sincere?" Daenerys asked Grey Worm.  
_ "Yes, he is, my queen." he replied with conviction. "Let him prove its worth. I'll face him."  
_"So.....be it." decided the Targaryen queen, trusting her commander to win. 

*********

A few minutes later, the two combatants found themselves face to face, in the middle of the deserted courtyard of the barracks, in order to give rise to their confrontation. Although he had put himself at a disadvantage in order to prove his good faith, Meng still seemed as calm, waiting straight, arms folded and neutral gaze. Grey Worm had donned his unsullied commander black armor, as well as his helmet protecting his face and holding his spear and shield in his hands. He too was more than focused on the fight to come. On one side of the courtyard, seated on a chair and surrounded by Yara and Ser Cade, Daenerys was waiting, holding her baby in her arms. The young Queen Targaryen watched the two fighters looking at each other and waiting for her signal to start. Although trusting her unsullied commander, Daenerys couldn't help but fear the fighting skills of this warrior Yi Tish, especially after seeing his gaze. Experience and excellence in the art of killing is what she could see in his iris. Yara and Cade, too, remained suspicious of this stranger and ready to intervene at the slightest gesture of his part towards the Queen or Grey Worm. Yara saw in this man the exact opposite of her late friend Shen-Zoan, the latter who refused to kill on principle, this Lord Meng was a killer and was a master in this art, she felt it.  
As she once did in the arenas of Meereen, Daenerys clapped her hands, announcing the start of the fight, which brought back bad memories, she who was reluctant to bring to life these games of bloody killings for the pleasure of cruel nobles. But this time, she and her allies would be the only spectators of this fight, as well as Drogon, whose giant shadow, black as the night sometimes hovered above the barracks, curious about what was going on.  
No sooner had the queen clapped her hands than Grey Worm charged, spear forward and shield ready to protect him. Surprisingly, Meng remained motionless, even closing his eyes as if to concentrate, his arms still crossed, which destabilized Grey Worm a little.  
The unsullied commander, being a very good killer too, attempted impale with his spear, but suddenly Meng opened his eyes furtively and dodged the attack at the last second with a side movement, with almost supernatural speed. Daenerys, Yara and Cade watched and were amazed, as were Grey Worm. However, the unsullied replied with a new horizontal spear attack, which this time was countered by the brutal shock of a steel blade. Meng had drawn his saber, again with great speed and had deflected the attack easily.   
The spear blows followed one after the other, in a concert of strident and metallic shocks, Grey Worm striking as fast and hard as he could, but each time the attacks were avoided or blocked by Meng and his saber at curved blade.  
After yet another dodge, Meng seemed to catch something in his satchel and threw it towards Grey Worm, who reflexively raised his shield in front to protect himself. He then heard three small rapid and hard shocks on his shield and then saw three small metal stars, sharp and fine, falling at his feet. He had never seen such weapons. Daenerys, Yara and Cade, from their positions, had seen everything and were amazed by these weapons from a distant country.  
But all then saw the maneuver of Meng, who after having thrown his sharp stars, seemed to have foreseen the protective movement of his adversary, and had run at high speed on one of the sides, to reach the unsullied on the flank and disarm him with a quick and precise saber blow. But Grey Worm reacted quickly and struck a side blow, which Meng was forced to block with his weapon, stopping him in his run.  
_ "Good reflex. You fight very well, unsullied master." Meng said in his dark, but nevertheless sincere voice.  
_ "You too, stranger. You would have made an excellent unsullied." replied Grey Worm without a smile, but also sincere in his words.   
Again, the two men clashed, causing the blades of their weapons to vibrate and sparkle in the face of heavy shocks, but Meng just contained himself to defend himself without attacking. Daenerys could see it in his dodge movements and almost recognized how Shen-Zoan was moving. Fast and fluid movements like the water of a current, as light and impregnable as the air, almost like a dance in perfect harmony with the elements and the decor surrounding the fighter. This way of moving his body and analyzing the blows of the enemy, as if he saw them coming in advance and saw the world in slow motion, it is the impression that emerges from it.  
Meng used another of his secret weapons. Throwing a sort of small iron ball on the ground, the latter exploded to reveal a thick cloud of smoke which blinded Grey Worm and made him cough, forcing him to remove his helmet. Another technique that Daenerys contemplated with curiosity.  
Climbing out of the smoke, Grey Worm looked for his opponent, who seemed to have disappeared without a trace. Then, like a devil emerging from hell, Meng leaped furtively out of the smoke, striking a violent saber blow that Grey Worm managed to barely block with his shield, but which destabilized him in his position.  
Taking advantage of this second, Meng, in a circular kick movement, succeeds in disarming Grey Worm from his shield, then in his tracks, and with surreal speed, brought the blade of his saber to the throat of the unsullied. Grey Worm was frozen in place, feeling the cold steel of the blade on his throat and looked his opponent in the eye without fear. From their position, Daenerys, Yara and Cade were speechless. Knowing the warlike abilities of the unsullied commander, few could boast of having defeated him. As agreed, Meng did not kill Grey Worm as he had said and calmly put his blade away, before joining his hands and bowed respectfully to his opponent.  
_ "You are a valiant adversary, warrior Grey Worm." said Meng, to which Grey Worm, although embittered by his defeat, nodded softly.  
Yara, having watched the fight carefully, then remembered Shen-zoan's fighting techniques. Daenerys, she advanced to the Yi Tish warrior, who saw her arriving, bowed, as did Grey Worm.  
_ "Forgive me my queen, I disappointed you." said Grey Worm. But Daenerys asked him to get up and took him by the shoulder.  
_ "You fought for me, and I thank you for it. You did not disappoint me." she said sincerely to her friend. Then she turned to Meng who was waiting, one knee on the ground.  
_ "Your fighting skills are impressive, sir. You defeated my commander without killing him, as you said."  
_ "I said it. I'm a man of word, as is my emperor ..." replied Meng looking up at her. "... but tell me... does a dragon always keep its promises too?"  
Looking him in the eye, Daenerys then understood what he meant by these last words. It is true that he had put his life in her hands without hesitation, proving his loyalty to fulfill the desire of his sovereign. It reminded her of Grey Worm, who too was ready to give her life for her. She also remembered the late Ser Jorah with a certain melancholy, who had sacrificed her life for her. Loyalty. This Lord Meng was a devout practitioner, there was no doubt about it. After hesitation, she knew that an alliance with the Yi Ti empire would secure her the strength to fight the slave masters and secure the future of her own empire and made Essos a better place. As for the motivations of the emperor Bu Gai behind this alliance, she could discuss it with him orally, while showing him her strength and her determination and that he would be a fool to try control her.   
Throwing a last glance at her allies, who all seemed to agree, Daenerys then signaled to Meng to get up and announced her final answer.  
_ "Very well. I will go to meet your emperor, at Yi Ti."  
Lord Meng did not smile at this statement, but bowed once again in thanks.  
Suddenly, the roar of a dragon was heard and all then saw Mirrandes arrive by the air at high speed and land in the barracks courtyard, under stress. Seeing her dragon thus, Daenerys entrusted her baby to Yara and ran without fear towards his dragon.  
_ "Calm yourself, Mirrandes .... Shhhh, calm yourself ..." she said, putting her hands on Mirrandes' muzzle and caressing her delicately. The young female dragon groaned a little more, then over the seconds, managed to calm down a bit. Daenerys, examining it, then understood the reason for this stress: the scales on Mirrandes' body bore the recognizable marks of blades. She had been attacked. But what struck Daenerys was what Mirrandes had brought in her paws. Mirrandes stepped aside to allow her mother to see better. Yara, Meng, Grey Worm and Cade joined their queen to see too. Daenerys gasped in surprise but also in horror. It was a human corpse, rotten, and dressed in lacerated clothes and furs, reminiscent of the outfits of the northmen of Westeros. Above all, this corpse had terrifying blue eyes, looking into void. Daenerys and Grey Worm gave the same uneasy look. The last time they saw such monsters, a horrible battle took place ...  
Suddenly, the corpse raised its head and roared beastly towards the queen, and tried to seize her with his bony and rotten hand. Taken by surprise, Daenerys quickly backed away with Yara, holding little princess Rhaellys in tears in her arms. Meng, Grey Worm and Cade took their weapons, but did not need to use them when Mirrandes, furious, spat a jet of flames at the undead who immediately howled loudly and collapsed on the ground as the flames devoured him little by little.  
Holding her daughter tightly against her, Daenerys watched, eyes round and horrified.  
_ "So .... it was true .... they came back ..." sighed the young queen, noting that all the warnings of the red god were true. The long night was back, and the dead with it. Meng approached the burning corpse, kneeling and looking at it in silence, but turned his serious gaze to Queen Targaryen, who noticed it. Now, she knew what must be do.


	29. Part 28

Somewhere in Yi Ti

Night had fallen on the land of Yi Ti, but not all were sleeping in a deep and calm sleep. Having waited for the opportune moment, a servant of the palace of Yin had taken a horse and after having left the walls of the imperial capital under the cover of darkness, had galloped until reaching the edge of the immense and thick jungle which surrounded the surroundings of Yin.  
Dressed in dark clothes, his face hidden under a hood, the man waited in the shade of the first trees, listening to the breath of the wind coming to make the vegetation shiver, glancing quickly to make sure of his solitude.  
_ "Are you sure you weren't followed?" then said a somber voice which made him jump in surprise.  
_ "Y ... yes, I'm sure." the nervous servant stuttered, turning to the source of the voice. Coming out of the darkness of the jungle to reveal themselves in the moonlight, a group of Yi Tish men in dark armor and sabers with their belts slowly approached the servant, still as nervous.  
_ "So? What's the news? And don't you dare lie, you know what you're risking. The sorcerer lord doesn't like liars." asked the leader of the group of armed men eagerly. Faced with this most direct request, the servant spoke immediately.  
_ "Emperor Bu Gai suspects nothing. I could learn a very interesting thing. He would have sent a message to a queen of Essos ... it is said that she reigns over the city of Meereen and that she has three dragons."  
The men in armor looked at each other in perplexity, then the leader, sighing heavily, grabbed the servant by the throat and put the sword blade in contact with it.   
_ "Do you seriously think that we are going to believe in these rubbish?" spat the leader, while the servant, trembling and kneeling, opened round eyes and raised his hands.  
_ "I .... I swear it! He even said her name .... Dae .... Daenerys Targaryen, that's it! We call her the mother of dragons and from what I heard, she would have come back from death in the flames!"  
_ "Hmmm ... dragons ... a queen resurrected in the flames ... that's very interesting ..." murmured a macabre and close voice in the dark edge of the jungle. Losing their threatening faces to express more tense airs, the men in armors stepped aside to let pass a new silhouette adding itself to the conversation. The servant, still on his knees, could then observe with horror, in the glow of the moon, the appearance of this newcomer.  
The man was tall, a slim but stocky body, a square chin, eyes with gray irises, his light skin revealing his westerosi origin. His head was covered by a strange headdress made with the fur from the head of a goat, the two horns adorning the top.  
He was dressed only with an old pant and worn boots. His shirtless body and arms were entirely covered with strange symbols and designs depicting howling, twisted and emaciated demons. His face was completely painted up of black and white, giving him the appearance of a skull, as well as scars on both cheeks. Around his neck was a unhealthy pendant, made up of skulls of birds and rats. In one of his dirty hands he held a large grizzled wooden stick, adorned at the top by a human skull dangling at the end of a small rope. And his hands ... monstrous ... by a process, he had his nails removed, to replace them with small hooked pieces of bone, looking like sharp claws, at his fingertips.  
The treacherous servant stepped back, terrified by the appearance of this stranger, who stared at him without blinking once and constantly showed a frozen smile, showing white teeth. There was an aura around him that was more than unhealthy.  
_ "You ... are you the sorcerer lord?" asked the servant, frightened and sweating profusely. The stranger westerosi did not answer immediately, crouching at the same level of the servant and approaching him on all fours, walking almost like an animal and came before the servant, grabbing the latter's face in his hands and looking at him insistently as a curious object, all this under the observation of men in armor, uncomfortable and preferring not to meddle in that. The foreigner with the symbols removed his headdress, revealing short, black and flat hair.  
_ "Me? Oh no ...." replied the stranger, always with this honeyed and unhealthy tone "... he called me to assist him in his little takeover the empire... but you know, the politics, power, crowns and titles, I just don't give a fucking fuck about that ... humans are so boring at times... what interests me is tormenting my prey, seeing how long they can resist and then kill them as slowly as possible ... I like to see the fear of humans, and it's so funny to see them running ... I was bored terribly, but with the mention of this queen of Essos and these dragons, I must admit that you pique my curiosity ... will she really come?"  
_ "I ... I don't know ...." replied the terrified servant frankly. Sighing before this frightened man, the stranger then tightened his hands on the sides of the face, as if he was going to crush the head. Struggling, the servant was lifted a few inches from the ground by the man who seemed to have an unusual strength. The servant, lifted like if he was nothing, then began to scream in pain as his cheeks still held by the powerful hands of the stranger, began to smoke, as if burned by a poker.   
_ "Well ... I hope she will make the right choice and come to meet me..."  
And with these words, with a brutal and direct gesture, he violently broke the servant's neck, the cracking being heard clearly as the body fell heavily to the ground, his both cheeks badly burned and the traces of the hands visible on his charred flesh. The group of men in armor recoiled in front of this scene, and watched, suspicious, the stranger with the painted face, who recovered straight, showing a smile and a demented look, looked up at the moon and spread his arms.  
_ "Daenerys Targaryen, so that's her name .... the queen of dragons ... finally, an adversary to my measure ... across lands and seas, come to me, dear queen of fire .. .. come to me .... it's time for you to meet Faellor, the demon king!"  
***********   
Meereen, Essos

The day of departure had come. Daenerys had discussed it with his advisers again, but his decision was made. Although she did not like the idea of leaving Meereen in a conflict period, she had decided to place her trust in her allies, entrusting them with the regency of the city in her absence. Queen Targaryen advanced in front of the great pyramid, escorted by several guards and dressed in a warmer outfit to support the cool currents when she flew on Drogon. On her belt, she carried the sword she had obtained in the flames. In her arms, warmly protected in a sheet, little princess Rhaellys was calm. Daenerys had refused to go and leaving her daughter behind, to which Meng had made no objection.  
Drogon, giant and majestic, waited patiently in front of the pyramid, emitting a few deep breaths and watching the warrior Yi Tish with suspicion.  
Before leaving, Daenerys turned to her allies. Yara, Grey Worm and Ser Cade. All of them showed concerned faces for their queen, which touched her inside. She first came to her oldest friend and ally, Grey Worm, who bowed respectfully before her, yet showing a still wan but concerned face for her.  
_ "If I may, my queen, you shouldn't leave." he suggested. Daenerys smiled at him, understanding his concern and put her hand on his shoulder. Then she went to Ser Cade, who also greeted her properly.  
_ "I have only been at your service for a short time, your highness, but know that I share the opinion of Commander Gray Worm."  
Daenerys nodded, thanking him for his sincerity. Then she went to Queen Yara. The two women looked into each other's eyes. The image of that kiss between them returned to Yara's mind, but she forced herself not to show her embarrassment.  
_ "Come back quickly, majesty. But I don't like to know you alone with this man n a foreign land. We don't know him."  
_ "She won't be alone. What better bodyguard for her than her dragons?" said Lord Meng, coming to them, and pointing to Drogon, Joreas and Mirrandes, all three waiting side by side. "Anyone who wants to kill the mother of dragons in the presence of her dragons would be an idiot or a suicidal person."  
He was not entirely wrong. Daenerys understood the concern of her allies, but she had to do it. Ever since Mirrandes had brought back this living corpse from her exploration of Westeros, fear had assailed the young queen over and over again regarding the return of the Long Night. In addition, the slave masters would never stop tormenting her. Yes, an alliance with the emperor of Yi Ti was an opportunity not to be missed.  
_ "Anyway, things will be very simple, my dear Meng: at the slightest suspicious gesture from your part, my dragons will reduce you to ashes, is that clear?" said Daenerys officially. Meng was in no way offended by this warning and bowed slightly.  
_ "I expected nothing less from you, mother of dragons." He replied. Deep inside her, Daenerys remained suspicious of him, but she trusted her dragons to protect her at Yi Ti. If the emperor too were to be too threatening and tried something, she would not hesitate to unleash the fire of her children on the monarch and his army to defend herself and show them the power of the last queen of the old Valyria, but also the first queen of the new Valyria to come.  
Suddenly, several men, also from Yi Ti with their skin color and eyes, arrived, equipped with black armors whose motif resembled like iron feathers, and armed with various weapons, such as swords, spears and axes. The breastplates of their armors all bore the same symbol, that of a black hawk proudly spreading its wings. The one who seemed to be their leader was an imposing man, with a stocky body, sporting on his hard face a fine black mustache and a goatee, and long black hair tied in a ponytail and falling on his neck. On the right side of his face was tattooed a symbol looking like a falcon. On his belt hung a large sword, and on his back a round shield. The strong man in armor stepped forward, bowing to Meng, who then presented him to the queen and her allies.  
_ "Queen Daenerys, I present to you the warriors of the black hawk, among the best warriors of the empire, and their leader, Heun. As a pledge of confidence, they will stay here in Meereen in order to help in the maintenance of peace and security."  
Heun and the other men did not say a word, and also bowed to the queen Targaryen. Daenerys felt a thrill as she looked at them, especially the hard, flawless looks they were showing. They knew how to kill, and more than well, it was certain, even without having seen them in action, she could guess it. Yara, Grey Worm and Cade also observed these fearsome-looking warriors, and although being wary, had to admit that their help would not be too much to defend the city against the attempts of attacks by the slavers.  
The warrior Heun's gaze met Yara's for a moment. The young ironborn queen could see something similar in her eye. The same force that inhabited her late friend, Shen-Zoan. Heun and the other warriors advanced to Yara, Grey Worm and Cade, and saluted them respectfully, fists against their chest.  
_ "By order of our almighty emperor and Lord Meng, we are at your command." Heun said in his strong, deep voice to Yara, who then nodded in response. Meanwhile, Meng turned to Queen Daenerys.  
_ "Majesty, it is time." he said very calmly. She nodded and followed him to the dragons. Seeing their mother coming to them, Drogon, Joreas and Mirrandes became more docile, emitting small affectionate growls while Daenerys gently caressed their snout, one after the other. Little Princess Rhaellys, with her innocent gaze and yet not frightened, looked at the immense flying reptiles without fear.  
Drogon being the largest and most powerful of the three dragons, Daenerys, her daughter near her, and Meng, climbed on his large scaly black back. Drogon didn't seem to like having Meng on his back, but Daenerys ordered him to stay calm.  
_ "I guess it's the first time you've flown, Lord Meng? Doesn't that scare you?" Daenerys asked looking over her shoulder as she sat down. The Yi Tish assassin expressed no fear, remaining stony as usual.  
_ "Death has never scared me, dragon queen. If I have to fall and crash, what else can I do but accept my fate?"  
His almost emotionless voice made Daenerys shiver. He spoke of death as personal acquaintance. He was almost as scary as the faceless men. Was he one, or perhaps an old one?  
_ "In this case, hang on tight. I would be very embarrassed to have to arrive without you in front of your emperor." replied Daenerys. Meng nodded and hung onto the back of the black dragon as best he could. Preparing for departure, watched by her allies, Daenerys said the word in Valyrian, and Drogon reacted immediately. Roaring, he spread his huge red wings, raising a large cloud of dust, and advanced a few steps to gain speed and take off from the ground, followed closely by Joreas and Mirrandes. A little surprised by the speed, Meng hung himself on harder. Daenerys, more accustomed, remained focused on the flight, holding Rhaellys firmly against her and protecting her from the drafts.  
Staying on dry land, Yara Greyjoy, Grey Worm, Ser Cade, surrounded by a few unsullied guards and the black hawk warriors, silently watched the majestic flight of the three dragons, offering an almost surreal vision. From the streets and the market places of the city, many inhabitants could admire, with fascination, the elevation of the three reptiles spitting fire in the sky and heading towards the East.  
_ "Good luck, my queen ..." said Yara calmly.  
Moving farther and farther in the air, under the hot afternoon sun, Daenerys turned a last look back, towards her city of Meereen, praying for the success of her allies in her absence, and at her very fast return, with at her side, the support of the empire of Yi Ti.  
Meanwhile, from a dark alley in the city of Meereen, not far from the pyramid, the masked red woman scarcely advanced out of the shade, also contemplating the three forms of dragons increasingly distant in the sky. Her attention then shifted to other red priests and priestesses who came to her, in silence.  
_ "You did well, Lady Quaithe." commented one of the red priests to the masked woman.  
_ "It's done ..." she said, looking again at the dragons "... very soon, the Targaryen red dragon and the golden dragon of Yi Ti will meet ... from north to south, from east to west, their song will be heard ... and then the ground will spit fire and the flames of purification will illuminate the sky to save this world from the infinite darkness ... thus will live the eternal reign of our Lord of Light... "  
*********  
Somewhere in Westeros

Fear ... this is what devoured at the moment the three poor men chained to the trunk of the old barral found in the devastated sacred wood of what was once the city of Winterfell. Around them stood the dead, silent and motionless, their blue eyes without spark of life shining in the permanent darkness brought by the eternal winter.  
Moaning and trembling with fear, the three men saw the leader of this army of the dead. Bran, or the new Night King, dressed in his black armor, advancing towards them, looking at them with his terrifying and expressionless gaze. One by one, he came to put his cold blue hand on their forehead, paralyzing them on the spot for the first few seconds. Then, their skins began to pale, then take on the appearance of ice, while their fear disappeared from their faces and their eyes became a monstrous blue ...


	30. Part 29

Dragonstone, Westeros

With a darkened face, lost in thought, Jon strolled for this umpteenth day through the silent and dreary corridors of the old Dragonstone fortress. Weeks now that he and the other survivors had taken refuge on this island, out of reach of the hordes of the living dead who now reigned on the continent of Westeros. Two days ago, Tormund had sent three of his men as scouts in a boat to a beach, to try to get a picture of the situation on the continent. Only one of the three men had been able to return, seriously injured, in a state of intense panic, screaming that as soon as they arrived on land, large numbers of wights had emerged from the mist and had slaughtered his two companions.  
Everyone's morale was low and supplies were starting to seriously wane. Soon, the only way to get food will be to risk expeditions to the mainland. Tyrion, Brienne, Meera, Tormund, Samwell ... all were trying to hold on as best they could ...  
As he walked slowly, Jon stopped in front of the open doors of a large room, and looked at the big throne at the back, as did the dragon banners hanging by his side. This vision brought him back to painful memories and he preferred to turn away from it and continue on his way.  
At the corner of the corridor, he found Tormund, who to pass his time, leaned against a wall and drank like a hole.  
_ "Tormund ... do you know where Sam is?" Jon asked his friend.  
_ "The fat guy? He left an hour ago in the caves under the island. He said he wanted to check something."  
Intrigued but Tormund not knowing more, Jon decided to go see for himself. Leaving outside the walls of the fortress, descending the black stone steps then walking on the cold sand of the beach, Jon went to the entrance to the caves where he had before found the dragonglass, and also the cave paintings left by the children of the forest.  
Lighting a flaming torch, Jon entered the dark of the cave, going from room to room without finding any trace of his friend.  
_ "Sam? .... Sam, where are you?!"  
_"This way!" then answered Sam's more distant voice. Jon stepped in the direction of the voice and then saw Samwell's round, somber figure emerge from another more concealed entrance, which he had never noticed before.  
_ "What are you doing alone in these caves?" asked Jon, puzzled. "You know, if it's because of Gilly and little Sam, and you wanted to isolate yourself ..."  
_ "I ... I understand Jon ..." replied Sam frankly. Indeed, having no news of his wife and child, Samwell had locked himself in great melancholy and to try to hold on and not turning mad, was immersed in research in his books.  
_ "Jon ... you have to come with me ... I have something to show you ..." Sam said to him, who showed in his eyes, a discovery he had just made, and obviously important. Jon, more than intrigued, followed him.  
The two men, in the light of their torches, walked for long minutes in a rocky, humid and obscure tunnel, bringing them deeper into the bowels of the island.  
Then, the passage widens a little more, bringing them into a sort of small hidden cave. Sam stepped aside, allowing Jon to come in and see before him. Jon then remained frozen, his eyes round in amazement. Before him, shaped in the very surface of the rock, stood a large stone door, marked with the coat of arms of the Targaryen family. On the ground, just in front of the door, was also engraved the hollow symbol of the three-headed dragon.  
_ "What is it? ...." sighed Jon, amazed by the precision with which this old door had been shaped by the hand of man. Samwell walked up to him to gaze at the door, holding in his hands a very specific book apparently from the royal archives of King's Landing.  
_ "I discovered the existence of this door in the hidden archives of the castle ... nobody had read them for centuries ... according to these sayings, this hidden door was built on order of Aegon the conqueror himself- even during his reign. "  
_ "But ... why? For what purpose?" asked Jon, looking at Sam.  
_ "Well, Aegon's biggest fear was the fall of his dynasty, so he decided to make sure it never happened. "If the last dragons were threatened with extinction, then the door would have to be open, and as a result, will ensure their victory and will revive the all-powerful Valyria from its ashes. But only a real dragon's blood can prove itself worthy of contemplating the great power of the dragon lords." This is what is written."  
Jon was taken aback by this description and looked again at the big door, dominating it by several meters.  
_ "Sam ... you mean this door ...."  
_ "Yes, Jon ... behind this door ... is the Targaryens' ultimate weapon..."  
Jon could hardly believe it, and yet he saw it.  
_ "And according to what you say, only a real dragon blood can prove worthy to contemplate this power ..." repeated Jon looking at the door. Although not wanting to believe in this kind of magic, he thought about it and wanted to try it. Taking his dagger, Jon cut softly his palm, letting his blood flow, while Sam opened his round eyes when he saw him do it.  
_ "Uh ... Jon, are you sure ..."  
Being the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and therefore sharing his blood, Jon wanted to check it. Behind this door was perhaps the only way to reverse the situation on Westeros.  
Stopping right outside the door, Jon looked up and down at her, in silence. This large stone door was undoubtedly sealed, and trying to open it by physical force alone would be impossible, given its size. Then, after hesitation, placed his bloody palm on the Targaryen symbol carved on the door, like an intuition.  
A few seconds passed, slowly ... but to the surprise of Jon and Sam, nothing happened and the door remained motionless ...

*********  
Ministerial Palace of Yin, Yi Ti

At the beginning of this gray and slightly rainy afternoon, a meeting of the imperial council was held. A dozen men, richly dressed in large silk kimonos and big headdresses, sat on large cushions around a carved wooden table. The council room was medium in size but richly decorated with woven rugs and large canvases covering the walls. At the end of the table sat the head of the council, the imperial minister himself, in the service of the god-emperor and no one else, and took notes on a parchment in order to report the same evening to the 'emperor.  
A lively discussion seemed to take place between the different members of the council, some appearing to disagree with others, under the serious but somewhat annoyed look of the minister.  
_"As if the gray plague were not enough, the rumors of an anarchist movement aiming to overthrow our emperor are spreading more and more!" one of the councilors with a gray beard said.  
_ "It's much more than a rumor, let's see!" another, a younger one answered him openly "... have you not seen those odious threats which have been clandestinely hung all over the city?"  
_ "By the way ... has there been any news concerning the identity of the posters?" asked one of the advisers to the right of the minister, still listening.   
_ "Well ... we have proceeded to interrogate a large number of suspects, but for the moment, none has been able to provide us with a clear answer, even despite more means radicals. " explained the counselor who was in charge of the interrogations.  
_ "And what does his great majesty intend to do?" replied the white-bearded adviser, "... the people continue to die of starvation and disease, and he do nothing to make things better!"  
_ "Hold your tongue if you don't want to lose it!" then replied the minister hostile with a cold look. "His divine majesty already has a lot to do with these two usurpers and their rebellion."  
_ "But haven't you heard the rumors?" insisted the bearded old adviser then "... rumors say that the emperor would send an invitation to a young foreign queen to bring her here, to Yin."  
This revelation provoked discussions between the members of the council, and aroused the curiosity of the minister.  
_ "It is unthinkable! We do not need a foreign queen in our country!" coldly proclaimed an outraged adviser.  
_ "Why would the emperor do such a thing?" asked a calmer counselor.  
_ "This, my friends, we will probably not be long in knowing it." said the minister clearly, thoughtfully.

***********   
Somewhere in Essos...

During the first day, the dragons had continued to fly almost without stopping, crossing the vastness of the air and traveling for miles and miles. From the heights, they could have seen the many hills, plains and other magnificent wild landscapes shaping this immense continent of Essos.  
After the miles covered in this first day of travel, and after dark, Queen Daenerys had decided to stop for the night, to allow her children to rest and regain their strength. Meng had made no objection, considering that a stopover was a good idea too. To spend the night safely, they opted for a small grove of isolated trees in the middle of large gray rocky hills.  
Sitting among the trees, Meng was busy gathering a bunch of branches to make a fire and taking provisions from his bag that he had taken with him. Sitting on the other side of the fire and facing him, Daenerys remained silent, warmly covered to protect herself from the cool nights of Essos. In her arms, huddled in her blanket, the young Princess Rhaellys seemed calm, until hunger took over. Seeing her daughter crying and asking for food, Daenerys wanted to act, but at first glanced sternly at Meng, who noticed it.  
_ "Don't worry. I won't watch, I promise." he said calmly and concentrating on cooking the food on the fire. Daenerys said nothing, continuing to keep an ounce of mistrust but after all, still decided to trust him. After all, with her dragons, she risked nothing.  
Daenerys turned and sat down the other way, and gently undid the top of her tunic to reveal one of her breasts. Rhaellys started to suckle and regained her calm. Daenerys smiled tenderly as she looked at her daughter, holding her preciously in her arms. Behind, Meng, as promised, did not look and continued his work, preparing the tent while the food finished cooking.   
Around the grove, Drogon, looking like a massive shadow in the dark night, lapped and watched the surroundings, while Joreas and Mirrandes had gone hunting. The wait was not long for the great black dragon, who saw before him, falling heavily to the ground, three bloody carcasses of wild deers. Joreas and Mirrandes landed on the ground in front of their big brother and wanted to eat first, but Drogon called them to order, roaring on them to make them move back and as dominant, served himself first, grabbing the first deer in its mouth to devour it voraciously.  
In order to break the heavy silence, and also to no longer hear the creaking of the bones and the tearing of the flesh of Drogon's prey, Daenerys spoke to Meng while finishing feeding her daughter.  
_ "Tell me, Meng ... what can you tell me about your emperor?"  
_ "Well ..." began the Yi Tish warrior "... his name is Bu Gai, and he is the seventeenth emperor of the dynasty of the azure gods-emperors. Like all the monarchs who reigned on Yi Ti, he is the descendant of the God-on-Earth, who once founded the glorious empire of Yi Ti and reigned for more than ten thousand years. To serve him is more than an honor, it is a sacred duty. And when his time on earth ends, he will go and join his ancestors among the stars, and will continue to reign forever in heaven."  
Daenerys listened and was interested in this mythical story. An emperor descendant from a god? There was something to be skeptical about, but after all, she was indeed the dragon queen, coming back to life in the fire and the ashes and chosen one of the red god. From now on, many saw her as a kind of goddess. She and this Emperor Bu Gai were not that different in this aspect of being worshiped by their subjects. Daenerys thinks. This could help forge the great alliance between the two empires and could discourage some enemies from wanting to oppose them.  
_ "This man must be ... really extraordinary, to talk about him thus." Daenerys commented. Meng nodded gently.  
_ "He is a god among mortals, of course he is ..." said Meng with conviction. "... I know that he will be able to protect us from usurpers who seek to overthrow him and to save us from the gray plague which rages in our empire."  
Following these remarks, Daenerys frowned and cast a concerned look at Meng.  
_"Plague?!"  
_ "Yes, but rest assured, all arrangements have been made by our divine majesty. You and your daughter will be in complete safety at the palace."  
_ "But ... and those usurpers you were talking about?" Daenerys asked then, not really reassured.  
_ "Yes. For years, our almighty emperor has had to face the repeated assaults of these two demons eager to take the throne from him. General Pol Qo, nicknamed" the hammer of the Jogos Nhai ", and a nameless sorcerer-lord. They also use the plague epidemic to heighten the anger of the people to rally them to their cause, claiming that it is the fault of our emperor if disease and suffering strikes the empire."  
Another common point that Queen Daenerys discovered with the emperor Bu Gai. Like her family, he had to face unscrupulous usurpers. Although she had not witnessed, Daenerys remembered what was said of the usurpation of the throne by Robert Baratheon and the fall of the Targaryen dynasty. Today, Emperor Bu Gai was in the same situation, struggling as best he could not to see the disappearance of his dynasty.  
_ "And ... I suppose if the emperor wants to meet me it's not without reason ... he wants me to help him, is that it?" asked Daenerys, who, seeing Meng's gaze turning to her, guessed that she was right.  
_ "Believe that if you bring your help, his divine majesty will make sure to return the favor." affirmed the Yi Tish warrior. Daenerys thinks. Time was running out, but she absolutely had to get this alliance with the emperor, to secure the future of her nascent empire. By helping him defeat the two usurpers once and for all, she would secure the confidence and good graces of Emperor Yi Tish, as well as his armed forces to defeat her own enemies.  
_ "Remember that if your emperor does not keep his word, I will show no mercy him." Daenerys said clearly with authority. Meng smirked.  
_ "You are definitely a dragon, I expected no less from you..." replied Meng, almost admiring. Daenerys was not determined to be touched by flattery. She decided to continue her interrogation, wishing to know as much as possible about this mysterious god-emperor.  
_ "With a husband endowed with such power, his wife must be more than satisfied." Daenerys said then, observing Meng's reaction, who immediately showed a more closed face, seeming to involuntarily indicate that the emperor did not own a wife, or that he had lost her.  
_ "Our emperor has a hundred women for him alone. Each lord being faithful to him, must, to prove his loyalty, offer one of his daughters to the emperor, so that she becomes a concubine whose sole task will be to satisfy his majesty. It sometimes also happens that his divine majesty decides to take in his harem, poor and homeless young women, in order to assure them a better life, in exchange for their service... but to this day, his divine majesty has not yet found the woman worthy enough to become for him, his empress ... but perhaps one day ... "  
with these last words, Meng's gaze turned to Daenerys, who immediately turned her own. One hundred women for one man? Daenerys was very surprised.  
_ "What if a lord swearing his loyalty has no daughter?" asked the queen Targaryen.  
_ "If he has no daughter, the lord must then give one of his sons to the emperor, to serve in the imperial army."  
Daenerys was divided about this system. On the one hand, this granted the subjects' unfailing loyalty to the monarch. But forcibly enlisted the sons in the army to fight, and the daughters so that they become concubines, even if that offered some better living conditions if she came from a very poor background ... Daenerys does knew what to think of all this.  
Later, after the meal, the young queen went to the modest tent which had been installed for her and her daughter. A somewhat rudimentary tent, not worthy of a monarch, but Daenerys would be content with it, knowing that it was necessary to travel light. Meng, accustomed to the harsh conditions, would stand guard in the early hours of the night, then sleep by the fire with his travel bag as a pillow.  
In the tent, Daenerys warmly covered her daughter for the night and lay down next to her. However, the young queen did not know if she could sleep, because for a few days now, she did not stop having the same dream about this big stone door ... a door that gradually covered with blood and left catch a glimpse of intense redness in his growing intestice ...

***********  
Imperial city of Yin, Yi Ti

Although the night was particularly late, the emperor Bu Gai had not turned a blind eye. Having spent the whole night locked in the great rooms of the imperial archives, the monarch Yi Tish, seated on a comfortable cushion, faced a table on which had gradually piled up the registers he had tirelessly read for hours.  
Despite a spirit clouded by fatigue and a hollow face, Bu Gai did not give up, continuing to read without stopping. He breathed nervously, running his hand over his face. He had been struggling to sleep for several nights and no remedy from his imperial doctors was effective.   
However, it was not the anarchist movement aimed at overthrowing him, nor the violent epidemic of plague, which gave him his insomnia ... no, it was her ... Daenerys Targaryen ...  
Since he had seen her in the flames, a vision shown by the mystical monks, the young emperor kept thinking of her, her beautiful face, her long silver hair and her eyes reflecting the fire worthy of the great dragons... last night, while trying to fall asleep in his big imperial bed, he had been beset by this dream ... he had first seen a dark cave in which was a large stone door, bloody and opening little by little ... then, a mountain explodd, spitting fire at the sky and covering little by little the island on which the mountai was ... then, there she was, the dragon queen, naked, reborn in the midst of immense red dancing flames devouring black ruins and rising slowly from a large pile of ashes and surrounded by hundreds of screaming baby dragons ... then she turned to the emperor, her face closed and strong ... and there he saw them ... the irises of her green eyes gradually coloring in an amethyst color ... around her, the darkness was chased away, devoured by the flames and giving way to the light ...  
This dream, this vision, this prophecy, whatever, what he had seen kept haunting him like a restless ghost, pushing him to research to the very roots of the story of Yi Ti, until at the time of the Great Empire of the Dawn, although the archives of this period are very rare.  
But as he was about to give up, Bu Gai decided to read one last dusty scroll before leaving and going to rest a little. Unfolding the parchment, the emperor read the first lines. After a few minutes, he froze, frowning and showing a puzzled expression on his face ... looking up from the parchment, he remained thoughtful, even bewildered ...  
_ "The Amethyst Empress... it could be ...." he sighed between his lips, not being sure of anything but nevertheless wanting to believe it, gently resting the old parchment on the table.


End file.
